Abstract:
The ability to reuse treated
wastewater (TWW) would be of
significant benefit to agriculture whilst at
the same time providing a valuable water
resource. This study concerned the effects
of three various levels of treated
wastewater (0%, 50% and 100% TWW)
on seed germination and plant
development of three different varieties of
tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum) (viz.
Toufan, Heinz and Bouzina). Irrigation
with TWW persisted 15 days for the
germination stage and 120 days for the
growth and development stage. A control
plot irrigated with a pure water
(groundwater) was also set up in order to
compare the seeds and the plants response
to different concentrations of irrigation
water. The final germination was
expressed as a percentage of the total
number of seeds in each treatment. This
study has demonstrated that treated
wastewater improves the germination in
Heinz variety and had no effect on both
Toufan and Bouzina varieties whether it is
pure or diluted by half. For the growth
stage, the statistical analysis showed that
the Toufan variety has tolerated
successfully the TWW irrigation with its
high and moderate concentrations, and
this by analysing all the morphophysiological
parameters studied in this
work (leaves numbers, stem and root
length and dry biomass, relative water
content and rate water loss).
