Water reuse for irrigation in Jordan: plant beneficial nutrients, farmers’ awareness and management strategies

摘要

The reuse of treated wastewater (reclaimed water) is particularly well suited for irrigatednagriculture as it often contains significant quantities of plant essential nutrients. This work hasnshown that reclaimed water in Jordan can have adequate concentrations of potassium,nphosphate, sulphate and magnesium to meet all or part of the crop’s requirements. To fullynbenefit from these inputs farmers must have an awareness of the water quality and reduce thenapplication of inorganic fertilisers accordingly. Interviews with farmers have shown that 75 perncent of farmers indirectly using reclaimed water are aware of the nutrients. Farmers’ decisionnmaking as to the application of inorganic fertilisers appears to be influenced by a range of factorsnwhich include the type of crops being cultivated, the provision of training on nutrient managementnand the availability of information on the nutrient content of the reclaimed water.