Biosaline agriculture: an agronomic proposal for onion (Allium cepa L.) production

Many agricultural areas around the world tend to use deep wells when rainwater, surface sources, and dams are not available, what it entails, on many occasions, those producers to carry out irrigations to their crops with poor quality water due to the wealth of natural salts that prevails in the groundwater. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of saline water on the growth, development, and yield parameters of cultivated Allium cepa, with and without the accompaniment of three halophyte species (Sesuvium verrucosum, Trianthema portulacastrum, and Bacopa monnieri), as well as to evaluate the capacity of halophyte species to mitigate the effects of soil salinity. The results showed that treatments with halophytes improved crop yield by 52.89, 39.81, and 11.58%, respectively, over the control (without halophyte). In addition, with the application of saline water (5.2 dS m⁻¹), the same treatments showed a reduction in soil electrical conductivity of 60.80, 50.66, and 41.68% with respect to the control, which resulted in an adequate development of the crop. In conclusion, the association of the halophytes with A. cepa showed improved growth, development, yield, and mitigating the effects of salinization in clayey soil when irrigated with strongly saline water. Novelty statement: The onion crop with brackish irrigation but accompanied by halophytes is productive, so halophytoremediation is an excellent agronomic proposal for areas where there is poor quality water used for irrigation.