Sustainable management of wastewater for agriculture: proceedings of the First Bridging Workshop, Aleppo, Syria, 11-15 November 2007

Wastewater management / Crop production / Rural communities / Wastewater irrigation / Water reuse / Food security / Sewage sludge / Heavy metals / Water quality / Organic compounds / Groundwater / Farming systems / Polluted soils / Sanitation ISBN 92-9127-213-4

A review of management strategies for salt-prone land and water resources in Iran

Water resource management/ Land management/ Leaching/ Drainage/ Sodic soils/ Soil reclamation/ Supplemental irrigation/ Irrigation programs

Tolerance of faba bean, chickpea and lentil to salinity: accessions' salinity response functions

The productivity of crops irrigated with saline water or grown on salt-affected soils depends on the salt tolerance of the crops, their accessions, and various environmental and cultural conditions such as soil properties, climate and irrigation methods. The level and ability of plants to tolerate salt stress is the most critical information for the successful management of salt-affected agricultural lands and saline irrigation waters. In this paper, responses of three food legume crops (faba bean, chickpea and lentil) to salinity stress were analysed using the threshold-slope linear response function and modified discount function. The response functions are calibrated using the 2009–2010 season data and validated using the 2010–2011 season data from faba bean, chickpea and lentil experiments conducted in Raqqa, Syria. The comparison was also made through SALTMED model predictions. The results of this study show that the salinity response functions and productivity of grain yield are highly variable within the accessions of the same crop. For optimum outcome, practitioners need to consider salinity response functions and also the productivity of different accessions and their response to salinity in relation to the soil and available irrigation water salinity level

Unmanned surface vehicle for intelligent water quality assessment to promote sustainable human health

Deteriorating water quality poses significant health risks globally, with billions at risk of waterborne diseases due to contamination. Limited data on water quality heightens these risks as conventional monitoring methods lack comprehensive coverage. While technologies like Internet of Things and machine learning offer real-time monitoring capabilities, they often provide point data insufficient for assessing entire water bodies. Remote sensing, though useful, has limitations such as measuring only optical parameters and being affected by climate and resolution issues. To address these challenges, an unmanned surface vehicle named ‘AquaDrone’ has been developed. AquaDrone traverses water bodies, collecting data on four key parameters (pH, dissolved oxygen, electrical conductivity, and temperature) along with GPS coordinates. These data are transmitted to a web portal via LoRa communication and Wi-Fi, where visualizations like trendlines and color-coded heatmaps are generated. A multilayer perceptron classifies water quality into five categories, aiding in real-time assessment. The AquaDrone system offers a feasible solution for monitoring small to medium-sized water bodies, crucial for safeguarding public health

Hoffmann's syndrome: a case report

This syndrome is characterized by the presence of hypothyroidism with myxoedema, muscle stiffness and pseudo hypertrophy. We describe the disorder in a 21 year old male, who got admitted with complaints of generalized weakness, cold intolerance, constipation, and hoarse voice, difficulty in walking and progressive enlargement of muscles of thighs and back with crampy pains for two years. Examination revealed mild mental retardation, enlarged tongue, dry and rough skin, enlargement of thighs and back muscles, motor weakness in flexors of hips and knees with delayed relaxation of deep tendon reflexes. Investigations revealed evidence of hypothyroidism with marked elevation of muscle enzymes. Following institution of replacement therapy with thyroxine, the patient showed marked clinical and biochemical improvements after six months, but insignificant decrease in muscle mass. In this report we review relevant literature

Feed, food and fuel: Competition and potential impacts on small-scale crop-livestock-energy farming systems

CGIAR System-wide Livestock Programm

Managing salts while irrigating with wastewater

Where freshwater resources are scarce for reasons of climate or water pollution, urban wastewater is often used to irrigate a range of crops in support of urban markets as well as the livelihoods of farmers. As in many developing countries wastewater treatment is insufficient, the water can contain different types and levels of mostly undesirable constituents. In this review, the focus is on elevated salt concentrations from domestic or industrial origin, which can especially in long-term irrigation systems result in environmental and productivity constraints. As treatment options to reduce water salinity are resource-intensive, off- and on-farm management strategies are needed to offset the implications of saline wastewater. The sources of salts in wastewater can be reduced before it reaches the farm by (1) technologies in industrial sector that reduce salt consumption vis-a`-vis discharge into the sewage system; (2) separation of high-salt releasing industries' wastewater from domestic and municipal wastewater; (3) reduced evaporation in wastewater treatment ponds; and (4) restrictions on using certain domestic products that are major sources of salts in wastewater. Besides the off-farm interventions, on-farm management strategies may address (1) selection of crops or crop varieties capable of producing profitable yield with saline wastewater; (2) selection of irrigation methods reducing salt levels or crop exposure to salts; (3) application of wastewater in excess of crop water requirement to leach excess salts from the root zone; (4) irrigation of wastewater in conjunction with freshwater through cyclic and/or blending interventions; (5) use of different agronomic interventions; (6) the application - where possible - of calcium-supplying amendments while irrigating with highly sodic wastewater to mitigate sodium effects on soils and crops; and (7) potential use of saline wastewater, if containing adequate proportion of calcium, to ameliorate sodic and saline-sodic soils. Since saline wastewater can also contain other contaminants than salts it is different from saline drainage or groundwater, and its long-term irrigation may result in the movement of, for example, nitrates, metal ions and metalloids to groundwater. Therefore, monitoring of groundwater quality in well-drained wastewater irrigation schemes is important, particularly where groundwater is used elsewhere for drinking purposes. In addition, crop and soil quality analyses are necessary to determine potential negative implications of wastewater irrigation on crop growth and food safety in general and for microbiological and/or other chemical constituents

Contaminant management in water reuse systems

Although wastewater has been increasingly used to grow a range of crops for income generation and livelihood resilience in urban and peri-urban areas, irrigation with untreated or partially treated wastewater may result in negative impacts on irrigated crops, soils, and groundwater along with implications for human and environmental health through chemical and microbial risks. With the potential for environmental risks due to concentrations above the maximum allowable levels, the major chemical constituent groups that need to be addressed in wastewater-irrigated environments are metals and metalloids, essential nutrients, salts and specific ionic species, and persistent organic pollutants. To avoid potential negative impacts, conventional wastewater treatment options, which can control the release of these contaminants into the environment, remain the key to protecting water quality for beneficial uses in agriculture, aquaculture, and agroforestry systems. Effective legislation, monitoring, and enforcement are also essential and often neglected management strategies. At the farm level, some low-cost irrigation, soil, and crop management options, discussed in this chapter, are available to reduce the risk from contaminants added through wastewater irrigation