scholarly journals Improving Plant Health Through Nutrient Remineralization in Aquaponic Systems

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Victor P. Lobanov ◽  
Doriane Combot ◽  
Pablo Pelissier ◽  
Laurent Labbé ◽  
Alyssa Joyce
Keyword(s):  
Nutrient Uptake ◽  
Nutrient Solution ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Crop Yields ◽  
Treatment System ◽  
Nutrient Concentrations ◽  
Excess Carbon ◽  
Carbon And Nitrogen ◽  
Recirculating Aquaculture ◽  
The Common

The exploitation of readily bioavailable fish excreta as a source of plant nutrients lies at the cornerstone of aquaponics farming. Research on nutrient cycling in aquaponic systems has devoted considerable attention to the plant uptake of dissolved nutrients in fish excreta, however, the integration of particulate-bound nutrients into downstream hydroponic farming has remained elusive. The high amount of organic carbon present in fish sludge may lead to biofouling if directly incorporated into hydroponic circulation systems, reducing the utility of incorporating fish solids on a large scale. In this study, we implemented a novel treatment system capable of reducing the carbon and nitrogen load of fish solids to produce a liquid fertilizer for a downstream hydroponics unit. Lettuce (Lactuca sativa) fertilized with exclusively a commercial nutrient solution, the biofilter effluent (coupled aquaponic system), effluent from the solids treatment system, or the latter two combined were grown in nutrient flow technique gutters downstream of a recirculating aquaculture system stocked with rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss). While crop yields were lower for the aquaponic treatments compared to lettuce grown in a commercial nutrient solution, plant sap analysis demonstrated a contrasting picture with respect to internal nutrient concentrations. Lettuce grown in the commercial hydroponic solution were deficient in several mineral nutrients (Mg, Ca, Na, and Si) nor did they have higher iron concentrations despite the significantly higher EDTA-chelated aqueous iron (460 × greater than other treatments) in the nutrient solution. Nutrient uptake in the rhizosphere was not investigated on a molecular level, although stunted rhizosphere growth in the commercial nutrient solution control suggests a weakened capacity for nutrient uptake in comparison to other treatments. Alongside the remineralization of micronutrients, the solids treatment system addressed the common issue of excess carbon leading to biofouling via a total suspended solids reduction of 87.27% ± 9.95 during the coupled aquaponics cultivation period. Ultimately, these data lead to two important conclusions. Firstly, optimizing nutrient bioavailability is not synonymous to increasing the presence of a nutrient in the water column. Secondly, estimating ideal nutrient solution concentrations involves both preventing nutrient blocking and improving bioavailability.

scholarly journals Assessment of a Large Subsurface Controlled Drainage and Irrigation System: II. Corn Performance

2010 ◽  
Vol 44-45 (2010-2011) ◽  
pp. 8-10
Author(s):  
Michael Aide ◽  
Indi Braden ◽  
Neil Hermann ◽  
David Mauk ◽  
Wesley Mueller ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Nutrient Uptake ◽  
Crop Yields ◽  
Irrigation System ◽  
Subsurface Drainage ◽  
Nutrient Concentrations ◽  
Corn Production ◽  
Plant Parts ◽  
Surface Water Resources ◽  
Matter Production ◽  
Black Layer

Abstract Controlled subsurface drainage irrigation systems have been designed to promote agronomic production by optimizing water availability. In a previous manuscript we described the design of a 40 ha controlled subsurface drainage irrigation system, the soil resource and indicated the soil water properties. In this manuscript we describe the performance of corn (Zea mays L.) using a controlled subsurface drainage/irrigation system, with a focus on nutrient uptake at black layer formation. In a subsequent manuscript we will describe nutrient concentrations from tile drain effluents and note their potential impact on surface water resources. Crop yields using the controlled subsurface drainage/irrigation system substantially increased grain yields in 2008, 2011 and 2012 relative to previous corn production prior to the installation of the controlled subsurface drainage/irrigation system. Nutrient uptake (N, P, K, Ca, Mg, S, Fe, Mn, B, Cu, and Zn) was partitioned into leaf blades (blades), leaf sheaths (sheaths), culm (stem), tassel, ear leaves, shank, cob and grain. Nutrient concentrations in plant parts were estimated using plant tissue analysis, plant populations and dry matter production and expressed on a field basis (kg ha−1). The nutrient uptake by plant part at black layer showed that N, P, and S were more than 50% vested with grain. The remaining nutrients were primarily associated with the non-grain plant parts, especially K, Ca and B.

scholarly journals Defining Optimal Strength of the Nutrient Solution for Soilless Cultivation of Saffron in the Mediterranean

Agronomy ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (9) ◽  
pp. 1311 ◽  
Author(s):  
María del Carmen Salas ◽  
José Luis Montero ◽  
José Gregorio Diaz ◽  
Francesca Berti ◽  
María F. Quintero ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Nutrient Uptake ◽  
Nutrient Solution ◽  
Crop Production ◽  
Linear Increase ◽  
Nutrient Concentrations ◽  
Plant Tissues ◽  
Perennial Crop ◽  
Horizontal Diameter ◽  
Soilless Cultivation ◽  
Optimal Strength

Saffron is traditionally cultivated in soil as a semi-perennial crop, although the feasibility of crop production is today constrained in Europe due to both agronomic and socioeconomic factors. Accordingly, interest has been increasing concerning its possible cultivation within protected environments through adoption of soilless cultivation technologies. The aim of the present study was to optimize nutrient solution features in the soilless cultivation of saffron corms. The trial was conducted in a greenhouse at Almeria University. Saffron was grown in 15-L pots filled with perlite. Three fertigation treatments were used, obtained by a linear increase of all nutrients of one standard in order to reach an electrical conductivity (EC) of 2.0 (control, EC2.0), 2.5 (EC2.5) and 3.0 (EC3.0) dS·m−1. Measurements included determinations of shoot length, corm yield, as well as nutrient uptake from the nutrient solution and concentrations within plant tissues. The nutrient solution with the highest EC (EC3.0) allowed obtaining three to five times more corms above 25-mm diameter. The increasing EC had a significant effect on the increase of macronutrient uptake, except for NO3− and NH4+ and resulted in a general increase of nutrient concentrations in tissues, such as corms and roots. Both macronutrient uptake and accumulation in plant tissues were highest under EC3.0. Nutrient uptake was significantly correlated with production of larger corms due to higher horizontal diameter.

scholarly journals Modeling Nutrient Uptake and Prolonged Use of Nutrient Solutions in Soilless Tomato Culture

HortScience ◽  
1995 ◽  
Vol 30 (4) ◽  
pp. 761F-761
Author(s):  
Mohamed Benmoussa ◽  
Laurent Gauthier
Keyword(s):  
Nutrient Uptake ◽  
Nutrient Solution ◽  
Climatic Factors ◽  
High Yield ◽  
Nutrient Concentrations ◽  
Factors Affecting ◽  
Nutrient Imbalances ◽  
Nutrients Uptake ◽  
Using Data ◽  
Nutrient Solutions

In soilless culture, the buffering capacity of the root environment for nutrients is low. This, combined with fluctuations of climatic factors and changes in nutrient uptake rates, can lead to nutrient imbalances. In order to achieve high yield and better quality, it is necessary to keep the nutrient concentrations in the root environment at the target levels. This requires frequent analysis and adjustments to the nutrient solution. Currently, leaching of the growing media or renewal of the nutrient solution is commonly used to avoid accumulation or depletion of nutrient in the root environment. However, this practice lowers the efficiency of fertilizers and can lead to the contamination of the ground water. One way to remedy to this problem is through the use of nutrients uptake models to track the composition of the nutrient solutions. The objective of this study was to develop such models. Such models can be used to maintain balanced nutrient solutions for longer periods. This can lead to reduced leaching and improved fertilizer use efficiency. Macronutrient (N, P, K, Ca, and Mg) uptake models were developed for tomato plants grown in an NFT system using data collected from experiments conducted in the Laval Univ. greenhouses. Analysis of the experimental results showed that the main factors affecting nutrients uptakes are light and transpiration.

scholarly journals High Nutrient Concentrations of Hydroponic Solution Can Improve Growth and Nutrient Uptake of Spinach (Spinacia oleracea L.) Grown in Acidic Nutrient Solution

HortScience ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 1-8
Author(s):  
Daniel P. Gillespie ◽  
Gio Papio ◽  
Chieri Kubota
Keyword(s):  
Nutrient Uptake ◽  
Nutrient Solution ◽  
Plant Tissue ◽  
Nutrient Management ◽  
Spinacia Oleracea ◽  
Low Ph ◽  
Nutrient Concentrations ◽  
Waterborne Diseases ◽  
Solution Ph ◽  
High Nutrient

Hydroponic leafy green production offers high productivity and quality of crops but requires good management of pH and electrical conductivity (EC) to optimize the nutrient uptake. Nutrient solution pH is typically managed between 5.5 and 6.5, whereas lowering pH to more acidic range (e.g., <5.0) can potentially mitigate problematic waterborne diseases. Plant response to low pH is species specific and generally involves direct effect of increased hydronium ions and indirect effects of pH-dependent factors, such as low cations availability. To develop a new hydroponic nutrient management strategy, ‘Corvair’ spinach plants were grown under pH 4.0, 4.5, 5.0, and 5.5 of a hydroponic nutrient solution using a deep-water culture system in a growth chamber. Spinach shoot and root mass after 19 to 20 days declined with lowering pH. At the lowest pH of 4.0, plants displayed stunted overall growth and severely inhibited root development. Plant growth and morphology at pH 4.5 or 5.0 were normal but small, suggesting that growth reduction at these pH was likely a result of reduced nutrient uptake. Plant tissue analyses showed decreased N, P, K, Mg, S, Cu, Fe, Mn, and Zn concentration as pH decreased. When the strength of nutrient solution was increased three times at a low pH 4.5 to improve the overall nutrient availability, spinach shoot and root fresh weight with high nutrient concentrations (EC 3.4 dS·m−1) significantly improved but was still lower than those in the control (pH 5.5 and EC 1.4 dS·m−1), respectively. Plant tissue analysis showed that lowering pH to 4.5 significantly reduced tissue concentrations of P, K, Ca, Mg, S, Cu, Mn, and Zn compared with those in the control. Under low pH and increased EC treatment (pH 4.5 and EC 3.4 dS·m−1), all dry leaf nutrient concentrations were similar or higher than those of the control, except Mg and Zn, which showed a lower concentration than the control with a weak significance (P < 0.06). This suggests that additional optimization of nutrient formula might further improve the spinach growth at low pH. Together, our results will help to develop a new and low-cost nutrient management methodology to produce leafy greens hydroponically.

Student Perceptions of Community: A Different Perspective

NASPA Journal ◽  
1998 ◽  
Vol 35 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jackie Clark ◽  
Joan Hirt
Keyword(s):  
Student Perceptions ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Research University ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Social Environments ◽  
Common Assumption ◽  
Small Communities ◽  
Public Research University ◽  
The Common ◽  
Using Data

The creation of small communities has been proposed as a way of enhancing the educational experience of students at large institutions. Using data from a survey of students living in large and small residences at a public research university, this study does not support the common assumption that small-scale social environments are more conducive to positive community life than large-scale social environments.

scholarly journals Influence of Atomization Nozzles and Spraying Intervals on Growth, Biomass Yield, and Nutrient Uptake of Butter-Head Lettuce under Aeroponics System

Agronomy ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 97
Author(s):  
Mazhar H. Tunio ◽  
Jianmin Gao ◽  
Imran A. Lakhiar ◽  
Kashif A. Solangi ◽  
Waqar A. Qureshi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Root Growth ◽  
Nutrient Uptake ◽  
Nutrient Solution ◽  
Biomass Yield ◽  
Chemical Properties ◽  
Cultivated Plants ◽  
Growth Ratio ◽  
Shoot Ratio ◽  
Droplet Sizes ◽  
Root To Shoot Ratio

The atomized nutrient solution droplet sizes and spraying intervals can impact the chemical properties of the nutrient solution, biomass yield, root-to-shoot ratio and nutrient uptake of aeroponically cultivated plants. In this study, four different nozzles having droplet sizes N1 = 11.24, N2 = 26.35, N3 = 17.38 and N4 = 4.89 µm were selected and misted at three nutrient solution spraying intervals of 30, 45 and 60 min, with a 5 min spraying time. The measured parameters were power of hydrogen (pH) and electrical conductivity (EC) values of the nutrient solution, shoot and root growth, ratio of roots to shoots (fresh and dry), biomass yield and nutrient uptake. The results indicated that the N1 presented significantly lower changes in chemical properties than those of N2, N3 and N4, resulting in stable lateral root growth and increased biomass yield. Also, the root-to-shoot ratio significantly increased with increasing spraying interval using N1 and N4 nozzles. The N1 nozzle also revealed a significant effect on the phosphorous, potassium and magnesium uptake by the plants misted at proposed nutrient solution spraying intervals. However, the ultrasonic nozzle showed a nonsignificant effect on all measured parameters with respect to spraying intervals. In the last, this research experiment validates the applicability of air-assisted nozzle (N1) misting at a 30-min spraying interval and 5 min of spraying time for the cultivation of butter-head lettuce in aeroponic systems.

scholarly journals High-Throughput Phenotyping Methods for Breeding Drought-Tolerant Crops

2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (15) ◽  
pp. 8266
Author(s):  
Minsu Kim ◽  
Chaewon Lee ◽  
Subin Hong ◽  
Song Lim Kim ◽  
Jeong-Ho Baek ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Drought Stress ◽  
High Throughput ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Crop Yields ◽  
Plant Traits ◽  
Rapid Development ◽  
Plant Responses ◽  
Phenotypic Data ◽  
Agricultural Technologies ◽  
High Throughput Phenotyping

Drought is a main factor limiting crop yields. Modern agricultural technologies such as irrigation systems, ground mulching, and rainwater storage can prevent drought, but these are only temporary solutions. Understanding the physiological, biochemical, and molecular reactions of plants to drought stress is therefore urgent. The recent rapid development of genomics tools has led to an increasing interest in phenomics, i.e., the study of phenotypic plant traits. Among phenomic strategies, high-throughput phenotyping (HTP) is attracting increasing attention as a way to address the bottlenecks of genomic and phenomic studies. HTP provides researchers a non-destructive and non-invasive method yet accurate in analyzing large-scale phenotypic data. This review describes plant responses to drought stress and introduces HTP methods that can detect changes in plant phenotypes in response to drought.

scholarly journals A High-Content Screening Assay for Small Molecules That Stabilize Mutant Triose Phosphate Isomerase (TPI) as Treatments for TPI Deficiency

2021 ◽  
pp. 247255522110181
Author(s):  
Andreas Vogt ◽  
Samantha L. Eicher ◽  
Tracey D. Myers ◽  
Stacy L. Hrizo ◽  
Laura L. Vollmer ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
High Throughput Screening ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Protein Quality ◽  
Fluorescent Protein ◽  
Triose Phosphate Isomerase ◽  
Pharmacological Intervention ◽  
Screening Assay ◽  
Triose Phosphate ◽  
The Common ◽  
Green Fluorescent

Triose phosphate isomerase deficiency (TPI Df) is an untreatable, childhood-onset glycolytic enzymopathy. Patients typically present with frequent infections, anemia, and muscle weakness that quickly progresses with severe neuromusclar dysfunction requiring aided mobility and often respiratory support. Life expectancy after diagnosis is typically ~5 years. There are several described pathogenic mutations that encode functional proteins; however, these proteins, which include the protein resulting from the “common” TPIE105D mutation, are unstable due to active degradation by protein quality control (PQC) pathways. Previous work has shown that elevating mutant TPI levels by genetic or pharmacological intervention can ameliorate symptoms of TPI Df in fruit flies. To identify compounds that increase levels of mutant TPI, we have developed a human embryonic kidney (HEK) stable knock-in model expressing the common TPI Df protein fused with green fluorescent protein (HEK TPIE105D-GFP). To directly address the need for lead TPI Df therapeutics, these cells were developed into an optical drug discovery platform that was implemented for high-throughput screening (HTS) and validated in 3-day variability tests, meeting HTS standards. We initially used this assay to screen the 446-member National Institutes of Health (NIH) Clinical Collection and validated two of the hits in dose–response, by limited structure–activity relationship studies with a small number of analogs, and in an orthogonal, non-optical assay in patient fibroblasts. The data form the basis for a large-scale phenotypic screening effort to discover compounds that stabilize TPI as treatments for this devastating childhood disease.

scholarly journals Anaerobic Mineralization of Recirculating Aquaculture Drum Screen Effluent for Use as a Naturally-Derived Nutrient Solution in Hydroponic Cropping Systems

Conservation ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 151-167
Author(s):  
Joseph Tetreault ◽  
Rachel Fogle ◽  
Todd Guerdat
Keyword(s):  
Nutrient Solution ◽  
Agricultural Waste ◽  
The United States ◽  
Anaerobic Treatment ◽  
Production Costs ◽  
Effluent Treatment ◽  
Limiting Factors ◽  
Fertilizer Treatment ◽  
Recirculating Aquaculture ◽  
Recirculating Aquaculture Systems

Operation and effluent treatment costs are limiting factors for the success of recirculating aquaculture systems (RAS) in meeting seafood demand in the United States. Adopting a capture-and-reuse waste management model similar to terrestrial agriculture farmers would allow RAS farmers to monetize effluent and offset production costs. The moisture content and nutrient profile of RAS effluent makes it a potential option for use as a hydroponic fertilizer. Treatment of RAS waste is needed to mineralize particulate-bound nutrients before becoming a viable hydroponic nutrient solution. Anaerobic treatment (AT), a method used by municipal and agricultural waste treatment facilities to reduce total solids, has been shown to successfully mineralize particulate-bound nutrients from RAS effluent. Continuously mixed anaerobic batch bioreactors were used to evaluate the degree to which AT may mineralize particulate-bound nutrients in solid RAS waste. Concentrations of twelve different macro- and micro-nutrients were analyzed in the waste before and after treatment. Effluent samples were analyzed to determine the fraction of each nutrient in the solid and aqueous forms. This study showed that AT is an effective method to mineralize particulate-bound nutrients in RAS effluent and the mineralization rate data may be used to design a pilot-scaled flow-through RAS effluent treatment system.

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