EFFECT OF DIFFERENT NITROGEN LEVELS ON PRODUCTIVITY OF THREE MAIZE HYBRIDS FERTIGATION

Two field experiments were conducted in 2004 and 2005 seasons at El-Bosaily farm located at Beharia Governorate, Egypt, to study the effect of three nitrogen levels 60, 120 and 180 kg/feddan applied into irrigation water "fertigation" with drip irrigation system on vegetative growth, nutrient content (N, P and K) in leaves and grain and yield of three maize (Zea mays L.) hybrids (Single Cross 10, Three Way Cross 310 and Three Way Cross 324). The experiment design was a split plot with three replications where nitrogen fertilizer levels were distributed in the main plots and maize hybrids allocated in sub plots. The obtained results indicate that the increase of nitrogen level up to 180 kg /fed significantly increased plant height, number of leaves per plant, leaf area index, grain yield and straw weight. Single Cross 10 gave the significant highest vegetative growth and grain yield comparing with the other hybrids. The high-est nitrogen level (180 kg /fed) combined with Single Cross 10 gave the significantly highest grain yield and straw weight. On the other hand, 60 kg N / fed gave the highest nitrogen use effi-ciency (NUE) value followed by 120 kg N / fed The regression analysis of nutrition content (N, P, and K %) between leaf and grain was estimated. The highest regression determination coefficient (r2) was found in nitrogen percentage with r2= 0.965 followed by potassium with r2= 0.936. The lowest r2 was found in phosphorus with r2= 0.872

MAXIMIZING POTATO PRODUCTION VIA NITROGEN FERTILIZATION AND PLANT SPACING

The potato plants (Solanum tuberosum L.) vs. valor were exposed to different levels of nitrogen fertilizer (60, 100, 140, 180 kg N/feddan (4200 m2)) and in-row plant spacing (12.5, 25 and 50 cm) for maximizing the yield production to match food security needs under climate change impacts on Delta region,  Egypt. The experiment was carried out during two growing seasons (2010/2011 and 2011/2012) in split plot design at El-Bossily Farm, Agricultural Research Center, El-Behira Governorate, Egypt. The vegetative growth characteristics and yield parameters were measured. The result of this study verified that increasing nitrogen level up to 180 kg N/feddan significantly increased the vegetative growth, total and marketable yields than the other N treatments. The in-row plant spacing 50 cm was significantly increased vegetative growth and yield (kg/plant), but the total yield (kg/m2) had different trend. The highest total yield /m2 was obtained by 12.5 cm treatment. The interaction effect of 180 kg/feddan of N and 12.5cm in-row plant spacing were increased the total tuber yield (kg/m2) significantly. In contrary, the best marketable yield (tubers > 35 mm) /m2 was obtained by 25 and 50 cm in-row plants.  This study was concluded that the best agronomic practices for potato production obtained by application 180 kg N/feddan of with in-row plant spacing 25 cm treatment. The economical consideration of the different treatments showed that the best total net income was obtained by 180 kg/feddan N with 50 cm in-row plant spacing

THE EFFECT OF BIO-FERTILIZERS AND AMINO ACIDS ON TOMATO PRODUCTION AND WATER PRODUCTIVITY UNDER NET-HOUSE CONDITIONS

The present  study was carried out during two successive seasons, 2011/2012 and 2012/2013, at the Agricultural Research Station; El-Otouria, Sheehaniya, Doha, Qatar; to investigate the response of  two tomato cultivars (Isabella and Milas) to biofertilizers and amino acids. Two biofertilizer treatments, rizobacterien at a rate of 2 and 4 liter per feddan and one of amino acid (Delfan) at a rate of 200 ppm, were used. Chicken manure, at a rate of 10 tons/ feddan, was the control treatment. Results showed the superiority of Isabella compared to Milas in terms of vegetative growth and fruit yield. Using Rizobacterien at a rate of 4 liter/feddan plus Delfan (amino acids) at a rate of 200 ppm  increased growth and fruit chemical characters, earliness and total yield. The average fruit weight per plant was significantly high under Rizobacteria at a rate of 4 liter/feddan plus Delfan (amino acids) at a rate of 200 ppm. The lowest vegetative growth, fruit and yield characters were obtained from Rizobacteria at a rate of 2 liter/feddan. The water productivity results showed that all treatments led to the increase of fruit yield. Isabella cultivar had higher water productivity than Milas cultivar. Using of Rizobacterien at a rate of four liter/feddan also increased the water productivity. The same trend was obtained by using Delfan at a rate of 200 ppm. Concerning water productivity, Isabella cultivar had higher water productivity 16.7 and 17.2 kg of tomato fruits per cubic meter of irrigation water (m3) compared with Milas cultivar which produced15.9 and 16.5 kg tomato fruits per cubic meter of irrigation water for first and second seasons, respectively. Isabella cultivar plus amino acid (Delfan) gave the highest water productivity 19.1 and 19.7 kg of tomato fruits per m3 water for first and second seasons, respectively compared the other treatments

GROWTH PARAMETERS, IRRIGATION REQUIREMENTS AND PRODUCTIVITY OF MAIZE IN RELATION TO SOWING DATES UNDER NORTH-DELTA OF EGYPT CONDITIONS

Field experiments were conducted in El-Bosaily farm in the Northern Coastal of Egypt during summer seasons of 2015 and 2016 to study the response of the single Cross 10 maize (Zea mays L.) hybrid to three sowing dates (1st of May, 1st of June and 1st of July) and three levels of irrigation; 60%, 80% and 100% of irrigation requirements (IR) which applied by drip irrigation system. The experimental design was split plot with four replications where the sowing dates and the irrigation levels were located in the main plots and the sub-plots, respectively. Germination percentage, vegetative growth, indices yield and yield components and water use efficiency were compared under the various sowing dates and irrigation level treatments. The main results were as follows: Vegetative growth traits, yield and water use efficiency of maize were decreased as sowing date delayed beyond the 1st of May. Sowing maize seeds at 1st of July gave the lowest vegetative growth traits and productivity compared to the other sowing dates during both seasons. Meanwhile application of 60% (IR) decreased vegetative growth traits as well as grain yield. Nevertheless, the 100% (IR) irrigation treatments gave the highest vegetative traits and grain yield. In contrary, results showed that the 60% (IR) irrigation requirement gave the highest water use efficiency (WUE). Increasing irrigation water above 60% (IR) led to decrease the values of water use efficiency. Meanwhile, the  highest water use efficiency was obtained from the first sowing date (1st May) followed by the second sowing date (1st June) while the lowest value was obtained by the third sowing date (1st July)

Behaviour of single pile in consolidating soil

Piles located in consolidating soil are subjected to indirect loading resulted from the settlement of adjacent soil. Both pile and soil undergo downward movements caused by the axial pile load and surcharge loading on surrounding area. Both dragload and downdrag imposed on the pile are time dependent. The purpose of this research was to analyse and quantify the dragload and down drag imposed on single pile. Effect of pile head load was considered. Shielded and unshielded piles are analysed. Three dimensional nonlinear analyses using ABAQUS 6.12 have been utilised. The research investigates the size of the surcharge loaded area, location of the pile tip and pile head load on the dragload and down drag imposed on the pile. Based on numerical results the study revealed that sacrificing piles, which are unloaded piles, “hang up” the soil between the piles in the group and, thus, the vertical effective stress around the shielded pile is reduced. Numerical results proved that an average value of the shear stress mobilisation factor β mobilised along unloaded shielded central pile varies between zero at neutral plane (NP) and 0.27. The long term dragload of the shielded floating pile is about 67% of the long term dragload of unshielded floating single pile

Macromanagement of deficit-irrigated peanut with sprinkler irrigation

Precision irrigation management and scheduling, as well as developing site- and cultivar-specific crop coefficient (Kc), and yield response factor to water deficit (ky) are very important parameters for efficient use of limited water resources. This study investigated the effect of deficit irrigation, applied at different growth stages of peanut with sprinkler irrigation in sandy soil, on field peanut evapotranspiration (ETc), yield and yield components, and water use efficiencies (IWUE and WUE). Also, yield response factor to water deficit (ky), and site- and cultivar-specific Kc were developed. Four treatments were imposed to deficit irrigation during late vegetative and early flowering, late flowering and early pegging, pegging, and pod formation growth stages of peanut, and compared with full irrigation in the course of the season (control). A soil water balance equation was used to estimate crop evapotranspiration (ETc). The results revealed that maximum seasonal ETc was 488mm recorded with full irrigation treatment. The maximum value of Kc (0.96) occurred at the fifth week after sowing, this value was less than the generic values listed in FAO-33 and -56 (1.03 and 1.15), respectively. Dry kernels yield among treatments differed by 41.4%. Deficit irrigation significantly affected yields, where kernels yield decreased by 28, 39, 36, and 41% in deficit-irrigated late vegetative and early flowering, late flowering and early pegging, pegging, and pod formation growth stages, respectively, compared with full irrigation treatment. Peanut yields increased linearly with seasonal ETc (R2=0.94) and ETc/ETp (R2=0.92) (ETp=ETc with no water stress). The yield response factor (ky), which indicates the relative reduction in yield to relative reduction in ETc, averaged 2.9, was higher than the 0.7 value reported by Doorenbos and Kassam [Doorenbos, J., Kassam, A.H., 1979. Yield response to water. FAO Irrigation and Drainage Paper 33, Rome, Italy, 193 pp.], the high ky value reflects the great sensitivity of peanut (cv. Giza 5) to water deficit. WUE values varied considerably with deficit irrigation treatments, averaging 6.1 and 4.5kgha-1mm-1 (dry-mass basis) for pods and kernels, respectively. Differences in WUE between the driest and wettest treatment were 31.3 and 31.3% for pods and kernels, respectively. Deficit irrigation treatments, however, impacted IWUE much more than WUE. Differences in IWUE between the driest and wettest treatment were 33.9 and 33.9% for pods and kernels, respectively. The results revealed that better management of available soil water in the root zone in the course of the season, as well as daily and seasonal accurate estimation of ETc can be an effective way for best irrigation scheduling and water allocation, maximizing yield, and optimizing economic return.Crop coefficient (Kc) Evapotranspiration (ET) Groundnut Water stress Water use Water use efficiency Water productivity Yield response factor (ky)

Proceedings of the 21st annual Central Plains irrigation conference, Colby Kansas, February 24-25, 2009

Presented at the the 21st annual Central Plains irrigation conference on February 24-25, 2009 in Colby, Kansas.Includes bibliographical references.Decisions about when to initiate and terminate the irrigation season are important irrigation macromanagement decisions that can potentially save water and increase net income when made correctly, but can have negative economic consequences when made incorrectly. A combination of nine years of pre-anthesis water stress studies and sixteen years of post-anthesis water stress studies for corn was conducted at the Kansas State University Northwest Research-Extension Center in Colby, Kansas on a productive, deep, silt loam soil. Overall, the pre-anthesis water stress studies suggest that corn grown on this soil type has great ability to handle early-season water stress, provided the water stress can be relieved during later stages. A critical factor in maximizing corn grain yields as affected by pre-anthesis water stress is maximizing the kernels/area. Maintaining a water deficit ratio (well-watered calculated corn water use / sum of irrigation and precipitation) greater than 0.7 to 0.8 or limiting available soil water depletion in the top 4 ft of soil profile to approximately 30% maximized the kernels/area. Overall, the post-anthesis water stress studies suggest that corn yield is nearly linearly related to the amount of crop water use during the post-anthesis period and that total crop water use amounts may average nearly 17 inches. Producers should plan for crop water use during the last 30 and 15 day periods that may average nearly 5 and 2 inches, respectively, to avoid yield reductions. Management allowable depletion during the post-anthesis period should be limited to 45% of the available soil water for an 8-ft profile on the deep silt loam soils of this climatic region

Sensitivity of Potato Yield to Climate Change

Abstract: One significant impact of climate change is the effect upon agriculture. As many evidences indicated that some remarkable changes could happen in climate scenario, the present work is mainly directed to discuss sensitivity of climate change upon the potato production in Egypt. The selection of potato product is mainly dependent upon that potato represent strategic crop cultivated in Egypt. The SUBSTOR potato model was employed to simulate physiological processes and yield of potato production. SUBSTOR model is a mechanistic, process-oriented model for tuber yield includes crop development. The present work introduces two possible cases of climate changes for the sake of climate crop production relationship. The actual measurements for potato production characteristics were used in the comparison with present and predicted. The climate change data is used from two general circulation models (CSIRO and HadCM3) for A1 greenhouse gases Scenario during 2050. The results of the work indicated that the potato yield decrease from 11 to 13% under climate change and the climate change data output from HadCM3 model gave the highest value of potato yield comparing with CSIRO model. And Valor cultivar gave the highest potato yield compared to Dezareah cultivar when the irrigation treatment taken place under current and future climate

Increasing Soil Organic Matter Content as a Key Factor for Sustainable Production of Sweet Pepper

Intensive agriculture under plastic houses need to increase organic soil matter for sustainable production to match demands of food security, especially under semi-arid Egyptian conditions. Climate change impacts on agricultural production and the need to mitigate green house’s gases (GHG’s) worked as a driving forces to pay more attention to soil organic matter content and to offer different methods (aerobic composting and vermicomposting) for recycling different organic wastes (agricultural residues and organic urban wastes). The study aimed to investigate increasing organic soil matter content in sandy soil by different rates and types of soil amendments as well as investigate their effects on vegetative growth and yield of sweet pepper using a split plot design with three replicates. The study was carried out during two growing autumn seasons of 2010/2011 and 2011/2012 at El-Bossily farm, CLAC, Agricultural Research Center, Behaira Governorate, Egypt. Sweet pepper (Capsicum annum L.) cv. Godion F1 was the test crop and vermicompost, compost and cattle manure at the rates of 2, 4 and 6% (1.8, 3.6 and 5.4 m3/plastic house of 540m2) were the soil amendment treatments. Results obtained indicate that increasing rate of the different soil amendments from 1.8 to 5.4 m3/plastic house led to increase in vegetative growth and significantly enhanced early and total yield of sweet pepper. The highest values of stem diameter, total leaf area, yield and N, P were recorded by vermicompost, while cattle manure recorded the highest plant height, number of leaves and K contents (%). Vermicomposting of organic urban wastes and composting of agricultural residues to produce organic fertilizers instead of burning or incineration compared to cattle manure led to the sequestrating of CO2 in the soil by 605, 430 and 286 kg/ton and conserved nitrogen fertilizer by 17.1, 11.4 and 16.9 kg/ton of vermicompost, compost and cattle manure respectively. The use of vermicompost as a soil amendment at the rate of 4% gave the highest economic sweet pepper yield. Organic urban wastes could create a good source for producing soil amendment. Increasing organic soil matter content played a vital role in crop production