Response of Panicum to Nitrogen Fertilization and Humic Acid under Salinity Conditions

Author : Mahmoud A. Abd El-Aziz

Natural pastures are not available in Egypt as in neighboring countries such as Sudan, as Egypt is located in the belt of arid lands, and this has led to a severe shortage of green fodder. So, two field experiments were conducted during the seasons 2021/2022 and 2022/2023.  In order to study the effect of four nitrogen fertilization levels (40, 60, 80 and 100 kg/ha nitrogen) and humic acid rates (without, 2, 4, 6, 8 and 10 kg/ha) on the productivity of panicum under salinity soil conditions in Ras Sudr, South Sinai, Egypt. The obtained results indicated significant differences between nitrogen fertilization levels, where 100 kg N/ha increased plant height, leaf area, fresh leaves weight, fresh stem weight, dry leaves weight, dry stem weight, fresh weight, dry weight, fresh fodder yield, dry fodder yield, protein % and net return in both seasons. Which contained humic acid at a rate of 8 kg / ha gave a higher yield of forage crop compared to the control treatment, and this was evident in both seasons of the study. Nitrogen fertilization at the level of 100 kg/ha was superior compared to the nitrogen fertilization level of 40 kg/ha by 133%. So, it was also possible to obtain a dry forage yield of 42384 kg/ha in the first season and 51688 kg/ha in the second season by using nitrogen fertilization at a rate of 100 kg/ha with humic acid at a rate of 8 kg/ha. Nitrogen fertilization at the level of 100 kg/ha was superior compared to the nitrogen fertilization level of 40 kg/ha by 104%. So, it was also possible to obtain a net return of 147373 L.E/ha in the first season and 179725 L.E/ha in the second season by using nitrogen fertilization at a rate of 100 kg/ha with humic acid at a rate of 8 kg/ha. Recommendation: The study recommends the use of nitrogen fertilization at a level of 100 kg/ha with humic acid at a rate of 8 kg/ha to obtain the highest productivity of the dry forage crop and net return under Ras Sudr, South Sinai of Egypt.

Keywords : Panicum, Humic acid, Salinity, Nitrogen, Yield, Net return,

Received:10/15/2023 12:00:00 AM; Accepted: 11/23/2023 12:00:00 AM