Irrigation Water Quality and Soil Amendments Enhance Faba Bean (Vicia faba) Production in Salinity-affected Regions

The escalating crisis of soil salinity, which is currently degrading 20% of the world’s cropland and projected to affect 50% by 2050, demands urgent agronomic solutions. This is particularly critical for irrigated arid regions, where saline groundwater and poor practices exacerbate the problem. While beans ( Fabaceae ) are nutritionally and economically vital, their response to salinity mitigation remains poorly understood. This research quantified the effects of two practical interventions, blending brackish water with reverse osmosis permeate and the application of composted mulch, on bean performance under saline stress. One field trial was conducted with faba bean ( Vicia faba ) in 2023–24 using a replicated factorial design to assess water quality × composted mulch interactions on key agronomic parameters, including growth, yield, and physiological health with two cultivars. The results demonstrated that reduced salinity agricultural water alone maximized yield and biomass. However, under raw brackish well water irrigation, compost mulch was a critical mitigation tool that produced a yield statistically equivalent to the optimum and an increase in plant height. These findings suggest alternative combinations of irrigation water quality and soil amendments to enhance legume production in salinity-affected regions.