Performance of purslane (Portulaca oleracea L.) as a salt-removing crop

Specific plants can remove salts from the soil and contribute to saline remediation in orchard intercropping. Determining the level of highest salinity that a salt-removing crop can withstand without reducing its yield is important for management. It is also important to know the critical hazardous level of saline irrigation water for the fruit trees. The objective of this study was to investigate the salt-removing capacity of purslane by studying different stress criteria and by tracking its salt removal from germination to harvest. Therefore, a pot experiment was performed by enhanced salinity levels. The results showed that purslane could cumulatively remove considerable amounts of salt from the soil if practical to cultivate as an intercrop all year round. In this regard, 6.5 dS m-1 can be concluded as the reasonable salinity level for the purslane managed to be intercropped in fruit orchards. © 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.ERBIC18CT 980266The research work was partially supported by the Inco-DC Programme of the Commission of the European Communities, contract number: ERBIC18CT 980266. -

Natural radioactivity of fertilizers widely used in the agricultural lands of Ege region in Turkey

This is a preliminary study to determine the natural radionuclides of the commercial chemical fertilizers and rock phosphates which are widely used in the agricultural lands of Ege region in the west of Turkey. Mainly the fundamental raw materials of all phosphorous (P) containing fertilizers are examined. Gamma spectrometric measurements of 226Ra, 232Th and 40K activities were made on sixty-eight straight and compound commercial fertilizers, as well as on the nine phosphate rocks. The activity concentrations of 226Ra in the phosphate rocks were found to be in the range of 326 and 788 Bq kg-1 while those of 232Th and 40K were found to be much lower, ranging from 50 Bq kg-1 to levels so low that they were undetectable. Normal super phosphate (NSP) and triple super phosphate (TSP) exhibited relatively higher 226Ra activities than the rest of studied P based fertilizers. 40K activities in potassium sulfate and nitrate fertilizers w up to about 104 Bq kg-1. In particular, the activity concentrations of the 226Ra in NP and the majority of NPK fertilizers, which are the most widely used types in the cultivated soils of the Ege region, appeared much lower, and in some cases, were undetectable. These results are of great significance in terms of sustainable agriculture involving the use of phosphate-based fertilizers

Effect of different soluble potassium fertilizers on yield, yield components and quality properties of different tomato cultivars irrigated by a drip system

Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) is one of the main crops grown in Turkey for fresh consumption and for paste industry. The objective of this study was to examine the single and combined effects of some soluble potassium (K) fertilizers as nitrate of potash (NOP), sulfate of potash (SOP) and their combination (NOP+SOP) on marketable yield, yield components, some quality properties of a greenhouse tomato for table and a field cultivar for paste industry which were irrigated by a drip system. Results in relation to paste tomato showed that the highest yield was obtained from the SOP treatment. The highest EC, titratable acidity (TA), firmness, total soluble solids (brix), fruit width, height and weight (FW, FH, FW1) were found high in the NOP+SOP treatment. It is important to highlight that SOP receiving tomatoes are found high in their leaf K contents and NOP for many of the micro elements of the leaves. Table tomato results indicated that fertilizers applied by fertigation significantly affected the fruit yield, the highest being in the NOP+SOP treatment parcels. Firmness and TA were found high in the NOP+SOP treatment but the highest EC and brix in the SOP treatment. Likewise, the paste tomato, the leaf K and some of the micro elements in the leaves of table tomatoes are relatively high in the SOP treatment. It can be concluded that yield is important for both of the cultivar but brix yield obtained from per unit area is as well important. Marketable yield with attractive and tasteful fruits in the case of table cultivars are significant and needed to be highlighted. In this regard, economic analysis between SOP and NOP+SOP fertilization should be made before deciding on a recommendation. Most significant of all, nutritional status of tomato plants should be studied via their leaves at the recommended sampling time. © 2019 International Society for Horticultural Science. All rights reserved.The research work was supported by the Tessenderlo Group

Essential and non-essential heavy metal constituents of german chamomile: Effect of different farming systems

Two different experiments were conducted with German chamomile grown according to conventional and organic farming systems. Flower (drug) and shoot yields were determined, and their essential (Fe, Zn, Mn and Cu) and non-essential heavy metal (Pb, Ni, Co, Cr and Cd) contents were measured and the results were compared according to treatments: control-without treatment to fertilization, 15:15:15 + ammonium nitrate (AN) + potassium sulfate (KS), monopotassium sulfate (MKP) + AN + KS, control + farmyard manure (FYM) + sulphur (S), bone meal (BM) + zeolite (Z) + FYM + S, rock phosphate (RP) + Z + FYM + S. It can be concluded that the yield responses of chamomile in 15:15:15 treatment of the conventional and BM (bone meal) + Z (zeolite) treatment of the organic experimentation were significant. All of these findings showed that there is not a significant metal accumulation risk for chamomile cultivated either according to the conventional farming system or to the standards of organic farming because all of the studied essential and non-essential metals are generally low or very slightly over the acceptable limits