Farming with drip sea water irrigation for Salicornia production in Tierra del Fuego, Argentina

Abstract

Farming for the sustainable production of halophyte crops should begin with the popular knowledge of saline and beneficial plants. On this way, the use of drip irrigation with seawater supply for the production of the halophytic specie Salicornia magellanica was evaluated in a small-scale culture in three growth periods; a randomized design of fifteen plantings were developed in each treatment (n=15), with two irrigation flows in two plant stages (two and seven months of initial pre-planting growth in pots). At the same time, another hydroponic growing experiment was carried out with four different concentrations of seawater (0 – 11 – 20 – 33 g.L of salts) to determine the optimal concentration. The irrigation flow showed different effects on the production parameters and plant age, where the highest yields were recorded in more developed plants in the third season. In the hydroponics with sea water those with low concentration, had a greater and significant values in survival of plants, largest length and number of shoots. These results made it possible to model the consumption of seawater for crops in Tierra del Fuego, Argentina optimizing its use in order to reduce the cost of the provision of seawater for micro crops far from the sea coast.