Improving snap bean yield and quality through organic fertilizer additives and citric acid spraying under newly reclaimed land conditions [electronic resource]

Includes bibliographic reference

Snap bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) plants are sensitive to water and nutrient shortages, especially during flowering and pod setting stages. Hence, The present study aimed to investigate the benefits of citric acid foliar spray(CA) at 1.5g/l alone and combined with different levels of farmyard manure (FYM); control (100% mineral fertilizers) and 25% , 50% 75% and 100% of the recommended rate of FYM on snap bean cv. Bronco grown in sandy soil conditions. The study was conducted in Qalabshu, Dakahlia Governorate, Egypt during two seasons of 2015 and 2016 in a complete randomized block design (CRBD). The results showed that CA + 50% FYM treatment increases almost studied parameters either vegetative growth or pod yield over the control and other treatments. Although the treatment of CA + 100% FYM gave the highest values of pod qualities i.e., chlorophyll content (2.13 and 2.27), protein% (15.8 and 17.1) and TSS% (7.9 and 8.6) in both season, respectively, it had the lowest values of fresh pod yield (around 17.5% relative to control). Overall, the results indicated that organic fertilization is very important procedure in enhancing water and minerals status of new reclaimed soils. Moreover, citric acid as an antioxidant is effective in minimizing the negative impacts of water and mineral shortages of sandy soils. Accordingly, it can be recommended to fertilize snap bean plant grown in sandy soil by 50% FYM + 50% mineral fertilizers and spraying the plants by citric acid (1.5g/L) to obtain the highest fresh pod yield with best quality.

Summary in Arabic