Calidad de agua para riego de 60 fincas agroecológicas de 4 municipios del departamento de Boyacá

Abstract

Introduction: Adequate water quality and availability is one of the most important factors for sustainable development, for agriculture, it affects plant nutrition, and makes water assessment necessary.

Objective: Asses irrigation water comprising 60 farms in four municipalities of Boyacá department (Colombia). The farms are part of a project for agroecological production.

Methodology: In each municipality, three agroecological models would be established and five farms / model for a total of 15 farms per municipality. Two samples were taken per farm, replicated over time with an hour difference for a total of 120 samples in the four municipalities. Parameters included five cations, six anions, iron, manganese, zinc, boron and copper, total hardness, hydrogen potential, electrical conductivity and sodium absorption ratio. All parameters were analyzed in laboratory following the protocols for water quality assessment.

Results: the assessed samples were suitable for agricultural and irrigation purposes; some samples exhibit restrictions for the following parameters: bicarbonate, iron, manganese, boron, total hardness and pH.

Conclusions: Sources of water supply sampled for the 60 farms allow them to be used as water for agricultural irrigation, some have restrictions due to high concentrations of iron, manganese and boron; high cv were also observed in some variables and low concentrations of potassium, magnesium and calcium, which is a concern for the influence it could have on crop development within agroecological models.