Pomegranate–Quinoa-Based Agroforestry System: An Innovative Strategy to Alleviate Salinity Effects and Enhance Land Use Efficiency in Salt-Affected Semiarid Regions
2024
Ilham Abidi | Khalid Daoui | Aziz Abouabdillah | Didier Bazile | Abdel Aziz Hassane Sidikou | Loubna Belqadi | Hamid Mahyou | Si Bennasseur Alaoui
Salinity is a major problem, impeding soil productivity, agricultural sustainability, and food security, particularly in dry regions. This study integrates quinoa, a facultative halophyte, into a pomegranate-based agroforestry with saline irrigation in northeast Morocco. We aim to explore this agroforestry model&rsquo:s potential in mitigating salinity&rsquo:s effects on quinoa&rsquo:s agronomic and biochemical traits and evaluate the land equivalent ratio (LER). Field experiments in 2020 and 2021 used a randomized block design with three replicates, including monocropping and agroforestry systems, two salinity levels (1.12 and 10.5 dS m&minus:1), four quinoa genotypes (Titicaca, Puno, ICBA-Q4, ICBA-Q5), and a pomegranate control. Salinity significantly decreased total dry matter (40.5%), root dry matter (50.7%), leaf dry matter (39.2%), and root-to-shoot ratio (7.7%). The impact was more severe in monoculture than in agroforestry, reducing dry matter (47.6% vs. 30.7%), grain yield (46.3% vs. 26.1%), water productivity (47.5% vs. 23.9%), and total sugar (19.2% vs. 5.6%). LER averaged 1.86 to 2.21, indicating 86&ndash:121% higher productivity in agroforestry. LER averaged 1.85 at 1.12 dS m&minus:1 and 2.18 at 10.5 dS m&minus:1, reaching 2.21 with pomegranate-ICBA-Q5 combination. Quinoa&ndash:pomegranate agroforestry emerges as an innovative strategy, leveraging quinoa&rsquo:s salt resistance and agroforestry&rsquo:s potential to mitigate salinity impacts while enhancing land use efficiency.
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