Rapeseed accessions as a climate smart agriculture strategy and food security in arid regions: yield, oil quality, and soil remediation under saline and wastewater irrigation

Climate change, water scarcity, and soil salinization are major constraints to crop production in the Eastern Mediterranean impacting food security, particularly in marginal lands where conventional irrigation is limited. Climate-smart agriculture approaches that combine stress-tolerant crops with non-conventional water sources may help sustain production while improving soil conditions. In this research, 48 rapeseed accessions ( Brassica spp. and Sinapis spp.) were evaluated during the 2020–2022 winter seasons under irrigation with saline water (5.8 dS m - ¹) and treated wastewater (TWW; 2.0 dS m - ¹) in Jordan. Phenology, morphology, seed and oil yield, straw and seed-cake quality, and changes in soil electrical conductivity and Na + stocks were assessed over two years. Plants matured earlier under saline irrigation, while biomass and seed yield were greater under TWW. Across accessions, seed production increased by 43.7% and oil yield by 37.2%. Rapeseed also contributed to soil remediation, reducing salinity by 2.30–3.40% and removing 78.48–111.60 kg Na + ha - ¹ yr - ¹. Yield increased by 15.1% in the second year without additional inputs, indicating progressive system improvement. Among the tested materials, Olga ( B. napus ) produced 3.13 t ha - ¹ of seed under saline irrigation, Gisilba ( S. alba ) produced 4.49 t ha - ¹ of seed and 40.15 t ha - ¹ of straw under TWW, and Profit ( B. napus ) achieved 47.73% oil content. These findings show that rapeseed germplasm can support climate-smart agriculture in arid environments by producing edible oil, high-protein animal feed, strengthening food security, and contributing to soil desalination under saline water and treated wastewater irrigation.