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Photocatalytic treatment of waste nutrient solution from soil-less cultivation of tomatoes planted in rice hull substrate

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Abstract

The effectiveness of photocatalytic treatment under solar light irradiation of waste nutrient solution emitted from a soil-less cultivation system of tomatoes planted in rice hull substrate was investigated from the viewpoint of conservation-oriented agriculture. As a model experiment, the phytotoxically active extract from rice hulls was treated with a TiO2-coated porous alumina filter irradiated with ultraviolet light at an intensity of 2.0 mW/cm2, and the phytotoxic activities before and after irradiation were evaluated from the germination rate of lettuce seeds. The germination rate was 0 % before irradiation, demonstrating the strong inhibitory effect of the rice hull extract, but recovered to 100 % after 4 days of irradiation. The growth of tomatoes planted in rice hull substrate under actual cultivation conditions was also observed in six repeated experiments over a 3-year period by comparing tomatoes grown in a closed soil-less cultivation system with photocatalytically treated waste nutrient solution under solar light (photocatalytically treated system), with tomatoes grown in a closed system with untreated waste nutrient solution (untreated system). The results showed that tomato growth in the photocatalytically treated system was significantly higher than that in the untreated system in six experiments over 3 years, and yields in the photocatalytically treated system were comparable to those in a currently used open cultivation system using rockwool substrate. These results suggest that incorporating photocatalytic treatment of waste nutrient solution under solar light irradiation will allow conservation-oriented closed soil-less cultivation systems to be realized.

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Abbreviations

TOC:

Total organic carbon

UV:

Ultraviolet

EC:

Electrical conductivity

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank Mr. Greg Newton for the critical reading of this manuscript. We are also grateful to Mr. Shigeki Henmi and Mr. Yoshihumi Kumazawa for their support during the field experiments. This work was supported by a research grant for utilizing advanced technologies in agriculture, forestry and fisheries from the Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Research Council.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Kanagawa Agricultural Technology Center, 1617 Kamikisawa, Hiratsuka, Kanagawa, 259-1204, Japan

    Yoko Miyama & Shunrokuro Fujiwara

  2. Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology, The University of Tokyo, 4-6-1 Komaba, Meguro-ku, Tokyo, 153-8904, Japan

    Kayano Sunada & Kazuhito Hashimoto

  3. Department of Applied Chemistry, Faculty of Engineering, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, 113-8656, Japan

    Kazuhito Hashimoto

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  1. Yoko Miyama
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  2. Kayano Sunada
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  3. Shunrokuro Fujiwara
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  4. Kazuhito Hashimoto
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Correspondence to Kazuhito Hashimoto.

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Responsible editor: Peter Christie.

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Miyama, Y., Sunada, K., Fujiwara, S. et al. Photocatalytic treatment of waste nutrient solution from soil-less cultivation of tomatoes planted in rice hull substrate. Plant Soil 318, 275–283 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-008-9837-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-008-9837-4

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