Ghada F. H. El-Sheref; H. A. Awadalla and Gihan A. Mohamed( 2019). Influence of Organic Manure, Natural Rocks and Putrescine on Yield and Quality of Sweet Basil (Ocimum basilicum L.) Grown in Sand Soil J. of Soil Sciences and Agricultural Engineering, Mansoura Univ.,Vol 10 (2):747-758,
Abstract: Two field experiments were conducted in the newly reclaimed land at a Private Farm located at Village No1, west of Beni-Mazzar district, El-Minia Governorate, Egypt in two successive seasons of 2017 and 2018 to study the influence of farmyard manure, natural rocks and putrescine on growth parameters, yields, essential oil percentage and yield for sweet basil grown in sandy soil and irrigated with slightly saline water. Results showed that increasing farmyard manure up to 48 Mg ha-1 resulted in high values of growth parameters, yields, oil percentage and yield and chemical composition of basil leaves. Using natural rocks improved all studied traits, except nitrogen concentration and pigments in basil leaves. Foliar spraying of putrescine was significantly enhanced all studied parameters, except N,P and K content. The treatment of 48 Mg ha-1 +natural rocks +putrescine gave the highest values of basil quality and quantity of herb yield. Moreover, organic manure improved soil reaction, soil organic matter in soil after harvesting basil plants, while it increased soil salinity. Natural rocks and putrescine application did not affect all studied soil properties after harvest, except soil available P and K which increased due to natural rocks application. Results of this research confirmed that a combination of organic manure, some natural rocks and putrescine could be considered as a suitable replacement of inorganic fertilizer for improving soil properties and consequently crop yield and quality.
Keywords: (Sweet basil, rock P, rock K, FYM, putrescine, growth parameters, yields , chemical content. )
