5253
Fardous Mohammad Tawfik Abdel-Wanis
RESPONSE OF Moringa oleifera PLANTS CULTIVATED UNDER TWO TYPES OF SOIL TO NITROGEN AND POTASSIUM FERTILIZATION
Moringa oleifera, soil types, Nitrogen, Potassium, foliar applications, leaves and seeds, oil physical and chemical properties
Moringa is a native plant and it is grown wild in the Red Sea belts and Southeast Asia. All Moringa parts are edible and have long been consumed by humans. Moringa is a model plant for cultivation in desert areas and newly reclaimed land. This study is aimed to evaluate the response of one-year old Moringa (Moringa oleifera) plants cultivated in two different soil types to different foliar applications of Nitrogen (N) and Potassium (K) fertilizers and their combination. The field experiment was carried out in newly reclaimed land at Belbeis desert, Sharkia governorate, North-east of Egypt. A two-factorial experiment was conducted in a split plot design with three replicates. The first factor was soil types, e.g., sandy soil and calcareous soil. The second factor contained foliar fertilization with different concentrations with Nitrogen and Potassium and their combination, e.g., single N, single K and combined N plus K fertilizers at different levels, compared with untreated control. Plant vegetative growth characters, yield and its components as well as chemical composition of leaves and seeds growth characters as well as seeds oil physical and chemical characters were evaluated. Plants cultivated in sandy soil showed a better response in terms of vegetative growth characters (plant height, stem diameter, number of leaves per plant, leaves fresh and dry weight (g) and total chlorophyll,), pods yield and its components (number of pods per plant, mean pod length and seeds yield), compared to those cultivated in calcareous soil. All foliar application treatments improved the vegetative growth characters, yield and pods quality as well as chemical contents (Vitamin C, N, K, Fe, No3 and Ca) of leaves compared to untreated control. Furthermore, the same trend was found in seeds oil content and its characters (specific gravity, refractive index, acid number, saponification number). The combined treatment of N and K at highest level ranked first in increasing Moringa growth and productivity, followed by the single N. finally the single K treatment, compared to control treatments.
2016
M.Sc
Cairo
Agriculture