Saline water and municipal solid waste compost application on tomato crop: Effects on plant and soil

ABSTRACTA field experiment was conducted in Southern Italy to evaluate the effects of different water quality and fertilizers on yield performance of tomato crop. In mineral nitrogen (N) fertilizer and irrigation with fresh water (Electrical Conductivity, EC, = 0.9 dS m−1) (FWF); mineral N fertilizer and irrigation with saline water (EC = 6.0 dS m−1) (SWF); municipal solid waste (MSW) compost and irrigation with fresh water (EC = 0.9 dS m−1) (FWC); MSW compost and irrigation with saline water (EC = 6.0 dS m−1) (SWC). At harvest, weight and number of fruits and refractometric index (°Brix) were measured, total and marketable yield and dry matter of fruit were calculated. The results indicated that MSW compost, applied as amendment, could substitute the mineral fertilizer. In fact, in the treatments based on compost application, the tomato average marketable yield increased by 9% compared with treatments with mineral fertilizer. The marketable yield in the SWF and SWC treatments (with an average soil EC in ...