Abstract
Reuse of treated wastewater is vital to increase green cover and bio-product and minimize environmental degradation. Seven tree species were planted and irrigated with borewell water at ½ET (Evapotranspiration, I1) and treated wastewater at ½ ET (I2), ¾ ET (I3), and 1ET (I4) to assess growth, productivity and efficient species in utilizing wastewater for more biomass. Wastewater was saline with high Na and low NH4-N, NO3-N and PO4-P. Irrigation from I2 to I4 enhanced (P < 0.05) height (6.7–11.1%), collar diameter (9.0–17.6%), crown diameter (14.7–20.8%) and total biomass (41.2–87.3%) over borewell water plants (I1). Increases in biomasses were greater in shoot (stem, branches and leaves) than roots reducing root-shoot ratio with plant age. Varying irrigation levels had no effects on shift in biomass allocation between components, but impact of species was significant with highest biomass allocation to stem in E. camaldulensis and A. indica, and branches in other species. Mean Annual Increments (MAIs) in growth and biomass were less in P. cineraria/T. aphylla, medium in Salvadora oleoides, E. camaldulensis and S. persica, and highest in A. indica and P. juliflora. Conclusively, indigenous P. cineraria, S. oleoides and S. persica along with T. aphylla tended to adapt wastewater irrigation by allocating greater biomass to roots. E. camaldulensis, A. indica and P. juliflora maximized root biomass to sustain above-ground productivity. S. persica, A. indica and P. juliflora were most efficient in utilizing treated wastewater and can be beneficially reused in afforestation, producing biomass for people and environmental amelioration in arid areas.
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The data generated during this research work are available from the corresponding author upon request.
Abbreviations
- ET:
-
Evapo-transpiration
- RSR:
-
Root-shoot ratio
- MAI:
-
Mean annual increment
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Acknowledgements
We wish to express our sincere thanks to the Director Arid Forest Research Institute, Jodhpur for providing the facilities to carry out research. We are also grateful to the State Forest Department, Government of Rajasthan, Jaipur for financial assistance and CAZRI, Jodhpur for providing meteorological data. We also thank independent reviewers for their suggestions for improvement of the manuscript.
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Singh, G., Nagora, P.R., Haksar, P. et al. Species influenced growth, biomass allocation and productivity in wastewater irrigated plants in sandy soils of Indian desert. Irrig Sci 40, 829–843 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00271-022-00809-8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00271-022-00809-8