Özet:

: Egypt has limited agricultural land, associated with the scarcity of irrigation water and rapid population growth. Hydroponic farming, seawater desalination and magnetic treatment are among the practical solutions for sustaining rapid population growth. In this regard, the main objective of the present research study was to design and construct a hierarchical engineering unit as a hydroponic farming system (soilless) to produce an iceberg lettuce crop using magnetically treated saline water. The treatments included four types of irrigation water: common irrigation water (IW 1) with an electrical conductivity (EC) of 0.96 dS/m as a control treatment, magnetically treated common irrigation water (IW 2) with an EC of 0.96 dS/m, saline water (IW 3) with an EC of 4.56 dS/m and magnetically treated saline water (IW 4) with an EC of 4.56 dS/m; three depletion ratios (DR) of field capacity (DR 0 = 50%, DR 1 = 60% and DR 2 = 70%) and three slopes of hydroponic pipes (S 1 = 0.0%, S 2 = 0.025% and S 3 = 0.075%). The results revealed that seawater contributed 7.15% to produce iceberg lettuce in the hydroponic system. The geometric parameter, the slope of the pipes, influenced the obtained luminous intensity by an average increase of 21% and 71% for S 2 and S 3, respectively, compared with the zero slope (horizontal pipes). Magnetization of irrigation water increased the total soluble solids (TSS) and enhanced the fresh weight and water productivity of both iceberg lettuce varieties used. The maximum percentages of TSS were 5.20% and 5.10% for lemur and iceberg 077, respectively, for the combination IW 4DR 2S 2. The highest values of fresh weight and water productivity of 3.10 kg/m and 39.15 kg/m 3 were recorded with the combinations IW 3DR 2S 3 and IW 4DR 1S 3, respectively, for lemur and iceberg lettuce. The percentages of these increases were 109.46% and 97.78%, respectively, when compared with the combination IW 1DR 0S 1. The highest values of iceberg lettuce 077 fresh weight and water productivity were 2.93 kg/m and 36.15 kg/m 3, respectively, which were recorded with the combination IW 4DR 1S 3. The percentages of these increases were 112.32% and 120.56%, respectively, when compared with IW 1DR 0S 1 (the control treatment).

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