Mohamed M.I. Afifi, Yasser S. El-Akshar, Yahia I.M. Zaen and Rehab A.M. Abd Elrahman( 2017). Response of faba bean plants to organic amendments on calcareous soilN. Egypt. J. Microbiol. Vol. 47, May, 2017.
Abstract: Faba bean (Vicia faba L.) is one of the principal winter legume crops in Egypt as a source of protein for feed and food. Growth and yield of faba bean are greatly influenced by both physical and chemical properties of calcareous soil. Two field experiments were carried out at Nubaria region during the two successive seasons of 2015/2016 and 2016/2017 to study the effect of different organic amendments on growth, nodulation, yield and nutrients uptake of two varieties of Faba bean namely Nubaria 1 and Nubaria 2, and four organic amendments namely; compost, humic acid, fulvic acid and compost tea were applied. Results reveled, humic acid combined with 50% mineral NPK fertilizer achieved the highest significant increase in plant height and number of branches for both varieties during the two seasons. Fulvic acid application accompanied by 50% NPK significantly increased yield reaching 9.38 and 11.0 ard./fed for Nubaria 1 and Nubaria 2, respectively. The yield of cultivar Nubaria 1 was greater than cultivar Nubaria 2 during both seasons. Humic and compost applications resulted in substantial increasing both number and fresh weight of nodules. The total counts of rhizosphere bacteria, fungi and actinomycetes as well as the dehydrogenases activity were increased due to compost and compost tea application. Meanwhile, humic acid amendment enhanced nitrogenase activity as measured by the acetylene reduction assay (ARA) during season 2015/2016. On the other hand, amendment with fulvic aid improved nitrogenase activity during the second growing season of 2016/2017. The highest NPK uptake was recorded in shoot and grains of plants grown in soil amended with fulvic acid. Fulvic acid application as well resulted in a significant increase in protein content in grains of both varieties during two seasons.
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