Effect of organic fertilizers and foliar application of some stimulants on barley plants under saline condition [electronic resources]

Includes references.

Salinity stress is one of the most deleterious abiotic stress factors that affect the growth, productivity, and physiology of plants. So, two field experiments were implemented aiming at assessing the influence of three types of organic fertilizers as main plots i.e. farmyard manure (FYM), plant compost (PC) and animal compost (AC) and foliar application of different stimulants i.e. proline, ascorbic acid and salicylic acid as sub-plots on the performance of barley plants grown on soil having EC value of 6.5 dSm-1. The results showed that the barley plants fertilized with animal compost (AC) possessed the best performance under soil salinity stress followed by that fertilized with plant compost (PC) then plants fertilized with farmyard manure (FYM), while barley plants untreated with organic fertilizers possessed the lowest performance. The investigated organic fertilizers increased the nutrient's availability and uptake and enhanced the synthesis of chlorophyll in the plant tissues and this may be the reason for increasing the ability of barley to tolerate salinity. Regarding the foliar application of stimulants, proline treatment was the superior one followed by ascorbic acid then salicylic acid and lately control treatment. Concerning the interaction effect, the highest values of barley growth criteria, as well as yield and its components, were realized when plants treated with plant compost (PC) and sprayed with proline, while the lowest values were recorded when barley plants were not treated with both organic fertilizer and antioxidants. Also, the organic fertilizers positively affected soil available nutrients (N, P and K) and EC values.
Keywords: Farmyard manure, plant compost, animal compost, proline, ascorbic acid, salicylic acid and barley plants

Summary in Arabic.