The purpose of this research was to study the feasibility of growing organic vegetables using the reject brine from the water treatment station in the community of Bom Jesus, in Campo Grande, RN. The research began with the establishment of a community garden according to systematic principles of agricultural sustainability in ecological basis. The participatory planning, in which all activities in the project were planned and performed democratically with the community, was the methodology adopted. Vegetables like coriander, chive, tomato and rocket were grown in the site available for the research, sowing a mixture of legumes with grasses to produce plant material, breeding of elephant grass and planting forest and halophyte species (Atriplex nummularia). The appropriate disposal of the reject brine gave a conservative nature to the project and also the possibility of an alternative source of water for agriculture, emphasizing the efficiency of use of water in semiarid regions. It is concluded that there were yield losses in all species grown with water of saline waste, from 25.30 to 26.7%, in relation to the conventional irrigation systems (fresh water); but there was biomass. However, the vegetable growth was successful in the community because it could change the resident's mind about the disposal and reuse of the saline waste.

 

Key words: Action research, saline waste, water resources, green manure, Brazil.