School of Science and Engineering, Center for Applied Research on the Environment and Sustainability (CARES), The American University in Cairo, AUC Avenue, P.O. Box 74, New Cairo, 11835, Egypt.
Department of Animal Production, Faculty of Agriculture, Kafrelsheikh University, Kafrelsheikh, 33516, Egypt.
Sci Rep. 2023 Feb 10;13(1):2427. doi: 10.1038/s41598-023-29509-9.
Salinity and freshwater scarcity are significant challenges affecting agriculture production worldwide. Sustaining food production in arid and semi-arid regions requires innovative, efficient, and low-cost technologies. Integrated aqua-vegeculture systems (IAVS) are promising technologies for cultivating vegetable crops and rearing fish and in a closed-loop system. The system utilizes fish effluents as crop fertilizers and recycles water for increased productivity. Hence, the current study aimed to investigate the response and productivity of kale (Brassica oleracea L.) grown at different brackish water salinities in an IAVS. The greenhouse experiment followed a completely randomized design with three salinity variants (i.e., 3000, 6000, and 9000 ppm) and control (freshwater, 400 ppm) with four replicates per treatment. The study results indicated that kale grown in a greenhouse could tolerate salinity levels of up to 6000 ppm without significantly compromising the plants' growth, yield, and nutritional composition of leaves. Likewise, rearing Oreochromis niloticus at high water salinities did not negatively impact the water quality and the growth performance, survival, and feed utilization of fish. Overall, cultivating kale and rearing O. niloticus in IAVS in water salinities reaching up to 6000 ppm could be a sustainable agricultural strategy to increase food production in regions affected by freshwater scarcity.
盐度和淡水短缺是影响全球农业生产的重大挑战。在干旱和半干旱地区维持粮食生产需要创新、高效和低成本的技术。水耕-水产养殖综合系统（IAVS）是一种有前途的技术，可用于在封闭循环系统中种植蔬菜作物和养殖鱼类。该系统利用鱼类废水作为作物肥料，并回收水以提高生产力。因此，本研究旨在调查在 IAVS 中不同咸水盐度下生长的羽衣甘蓝（Brassica oleracea L.）的响应和生产力。温室实验采用完全随机设计，有三个盐度变体（即 3000、6000 和 9000 ppm）和对照（淡水，400 ppm），每个处理重复四次。研究结果表明，在温室中生长的羽衣甘蓝可以耐受高达 6000 ppm 的盐度，而不会显著影响植物的生长、产量和叶片的营养成分。同样，在高水盐度下养殖尼罗罗非鱼也不会对水质以及鱼类的生长性能、存活和饲料利用率产生负面影响。总的来说，在 IAVS 中，羽衣甘蓝和尼罗罗非鱼可以在高达 6000 ppm 的水盐度下进行养殖，这可能是一种可持续的农业策略，可以增加受淡水短缺影响地区的粮食产量。
