TITLE:
Growth and development of komatsuna (Brassica rapaL. Nothovar) in NFT (nutrient film technique) system, as influenced by natural mineral
AUTHORS:
Abul Kalam Azad, Katsumi Ishikawa, Juan Carlos Diaz-Perez, Touria El-Jaoual Eaton, Noriko Takeda
KEYWORDS:
Water Treatment; Cations; Anions; Ion Balance; Komatsuna Cultivation
JOURNAL NAME:
Agricultural Sciences,
Vol.4 No.7A,
July
18,
2013
ABSTRACT: The cultivation of
komatsuna (Brassica rapa L. Nothovar)
was carried out hydroponically using a nutrient film technique (NFT) system
inside a greenhouse, applying a quartz porphyry (QP) treated nutrient solution.
Quartz porphyry is a natural mineral containing many substances that easily
ionize with water to improve water quality. Different growth attributes of
komatsuna such as leaf length, leaf width and plant fresh weight increased in
plants that received QP treated nutrient solution. The coefficient of variation
was smaller for QP treated nutrient solution plants when compared to the
control. High light intensity, long duration of solar radiation and higher
temperatures in the summer (July-Aug.) promoted plant growth compare to winter
(Dec.-Feb.). In contrast, plants grown in the winter accumulated more fresh
weight compare to plants grown in the summer. Results also showed that the
rapid exchange of ion in the nutrient solution due to the QP treatment enabled
the solution to maintain the ion balance, and thus plants grew uniformly and
vigorously. The cations Na+ and Ca2+ and the anions Cl- and were dominant and made the media saline. There
was a decrease of Na+ ion concentration in the recirculating
nutrient solution (NFT) due to ion exchange by QP. Results suggest that water treatment with QP could be used for production of high quality vegetables.