Organic Fertilizers Improved Growth and Productivity of Cowpea (Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp) under Water Stress Condition in El-Arish Region

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Soil and water Dep., Fac. of Environ. Agric. Sci., Arish Univ., El-Arish, Egypt.

2 Agric. Bot. Dep., Fac. of Agric., Suez Canal Univ., Ismailia 41522, Egypt.

3 Plant production Dep. (vegetables), Fac. of Environ. Agric. Sci., Arish Univ., El-Arish, Egypt.

Abstract

 The effect of three organic fertilizers; viz, chicken manure (ChM, 20 and 40 m3 fed.-1), pressed olive cake
(POC, 20 and 40 m3 fed.-1) and cow manure (CwM, 30 and 60 m3 fed.-1) on growth and productivity of cowpea under
water stress condition was investigated. A field experiment was carried out at The Experimental Farm, Fac. Environ.
Agric. Sci., Arish Univ., El-Arish, Egypt in summer seasons of 2013 and 2014 in a sandy soil. Irrigation water
requirements (IWR) were 50% (1050 m3 fed.-1) and 100% (2100 m3 fed.-1) of the estimated crop evapotranspiration.
Results showed that20 m3 fed.-1of both ChM and POC were more effective for most vegetative growth parameters and
yield components in well irrigated-cowpea in both seasons. Water stressed-cowpeas fertilized by 60 m3 fed.-1 of CwM
showed the lowest reduction in yield (34.07 and 29.86%) in both seasons, respectively, followed by POC fertilizer at 40
m3 fed.-1. Water stressed cowpeas fertilized by 40 m3 fed.-1 of POC gave the highest values of water use efficiency (0.86
and 0.87 kg m-3). The lowest total consumed water was recorded with 20 and 40 m3 fed.-1 of ChM–fertilized plants
under normal and drought conditions. The content of biochemical compounds and macro-elements as well as
measurements of some important tissues in leaflet of 3rd leaf related to drought and organic fertilizers were also studied.
It was concluded that application of 20 m3fed.-1 of ChM gave the highest yield in well irrigated-cowpea. Doubled
amount of organic fertilizers reduced the deleterious effect of drought especially POC and CwM by saving irrigation
water.

Keywords

Hortscience Journal of Suez Canal University
Volume 6, Issue 1
January 2017
Pages 1-13

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