Center for Applied Research On the Environment and Sustainability (CARES), School of Science and Engineering, The American University in Cairo, AUC Avenue, P.O. Box 74, New Cairo, 11835, Egypt.
Animal Production Department, Faculty of Agriculture, Kafrelsheikh University, Kafr El-Sheikh, Egypt.
BMC Plant Biol. 2023 Sep 9;23(1):417. doi: 10.1186/s12870-023-04422-5.
Soil salinity, soil infertility, and freshwater scarcity are among the major constraints affecting agricultural ecosystems in arid and semi-arid regions of the world. Hence, there is a need to look for salt-tolerant crops and fish that can be successfully cultivated and reared respectively in such harsh environments. The implementation of biosaline integrated aquaculture-agriculture systems (IAAS) utilizing both salt-tolerant crops and fish could improve food and feed production in arid and semi-arid regions. This study, therefore, investigated the influence of salinity on the biometric traits of striped catfish (Pangasianodon hypophthalmus) and barley (Hordeum vulgare) under an IAAS.
The experiment followed a randomized completely block design of three salinity treatments with three replicates namely, T0: Control (freshwater mixed with chemical fertilizers), T1: 5,000 ppm, T2: 10,000 ppm, and T3: 15,000 ppm.
Irrigating barley with saline aquaculture wastewater at different salinities (5,000 ppm, 10,000 ppm, and 15,000 ppm) did not significantly affect the agro-morphological parameters (internode number per plant, stalk diameter, leaf number per plant, leaf area index, and leaf chlorophyll content (SPAD)) of the plants at 90 days after sowing. Moreover, the forage yield and forage quality in terms of fiber fraction, nutrient composition, and in vitro digestibility of the forage biomass were not severely affected by high salinity compared to the control (freshwater and inorganic fertilizers). Our results also showed that rearing striped catfish in saline water not exceeding 10,000 ppm did not negatively impact the growth performance (final weight, body weight gain, feed conversion ratio, specific growth rate, condition factor, and survival) and the health status of the fish.
The integration of striped catfish and barley production in water salinities below 15,000 ppm could be a feasible alternative in safeguarding food and feed security in regions affected by soil salinity, soil infertility, and freshwater scarcity. Moreover, the salinity regime of 5,000 ppm could bring higher economic gains to farmers regarding higher crop yields (fish and forage yield).
土壤盐度、土壤贫瘠和淡水资源短缺是影响世界干旱和半干旱地区农业生态系统的主要制约因素之一。因此，需要寻找能够分别在这些恶劣环境中成功种植和养殖的耐盐作物和鱼类。利用耐盐作物和鱼类实施盐生水产养殖-农业综合系统（IAAS）可以提高干旱和半干旱地区的粮食和饲料产量。因此，本研究调查了盐度对 IAAS 下条纹鲶（Pangasianodon hypophthalmus）和大麦（Hordeum vulgare）生物计量特征的影响。
该实验采用随机完全区组设计，设三个盐度处理，每个处理设三个重复，即 T0：对照（淡水与化肥混合）、T1：5000 ppm、T2：10000 ppm 和 T3：15000 ppm。
在不同盐度（5000 ppm、10000 ppm 和 15000 ppm）下用水产养殖废水灌溉大麦，在播种后 90 天，不会显著影响植株的农艺形态参数（每株节间数、茎直径、每株叶片数、叶面积指数和叶片叶绿素含量（SPAD））。此外，与对照（淡水和无机肥料）相比，高盐度对草料的产量和草料质量（纤维成分、营养成分和草料生物量的体外消化率）没有严重影响。我们的结果还表明，在不超过 10000 ppm 的盐度下养殖条纹鲶不会对鱼的生长性能（最终体重、体重增重、饲料转化率、特定生长率、条件系数和成活率）和鱼的健康状况产生负面影响。
在不超过 15000 ppm 的水盐度下，将条纹鲶和大麦的生产结合起来，可以成为受土壤盐度、土壤贫瘠和淡水资源短缺影响地区保障粮食和饲料安全的可行选择。此外，5000 ppm 的盐度制度可以为农民带来更高的经济收益，因为更高的作物产量（鱼类和草料产量）。
