Barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) is the fourth most important cereal crop in the world, after wheat, maize and rice, [1,2], ranking fourth among cereal grain production 38% for maize 29% for wheat, 20% for rice and 6% for barley [2]. It is also used as cattle feed in winter when the fodder deficit is large and feed prices are high [3]. Barley is an important food in many parts of the world such as North Africa, Near East, the Horn of Africa and Asia. It plays a key role not only as a source of food in the Maghreb, but also in the mountains of Ethiopia, Eritrea and Peru [4]. In North Africa, Near East, the Horn of Africa and Asia, mean annual consumption per person varies from 2 to 36 kg [5]. In Egypt, the average total annual area cultivated with barley grains are 87752 hectares which produced annually 117113 tons [6]. Barley differs greatly in chemical characteristics, due to genotype and environment and the interaction between the two. Wide ranges in chemical composition of barley have been reported [7]. Recommended that foods should contain at least 0.75g/serving of oat or barley derived β-glucan for each serving portion to meet the health claim of β-glucan. Barley

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This study was carried out during two summer seasons of 2012 and 2013 at Sakha Horticultural Research Station Farm, Kafr El-Sheikh Governorate, on summer squash (Cucurbita pepo L.) Eskandarani cultivar to study the impact of phosphorus fertilizer levels 20, 40, 60 and 80 kg P2O5 /fed. and fruit thinning treatments;i.e., without thinning (control) , thinning the first fruit, thinning all fruits except the first and second ones and thinning the first and second fruit and their interaction on vegetative parameters and leaf chlorophyll contents.Results indicated that, the highest values of vegetative characters; i.e., stem length, plant fresh and dry weight, leaf area/plant and chlorophyll content in leaves in both seasons were recorded when plants fertilized with 80 kg P2O5 /fed. Number of leaves/plant not affected by phosphorus fertilizer levels, in both seasons. Thinning the first and second fruit produced the highest values of stem length, plant fresh and dry weight , number of leaves/plant, leaf area/plant and chlorophyll content in leaves in both seasons. On the other hand, squash plants fertilized with 80 kg P2O5 /fed. with thinning the first and second fruit produced the highest values of stem length, plant fresh and dry weight , number of leaves/plant, leaf area/plant and chlorophyll content in leaves, while, squash plants fertilized by 20 kg P2O5 /fed. with thinning all fruits except the first and second ones produced the lowest value of each character.According to the mentioned results, the best results of both vegetative growth parameters and chlorophyll contents in leaves were recorded when squash plants fertilized by 80 kg P2O5 /fed. with thinning the first and second fruit ,therefore, this treatment could be recommended for improving squash plants performance under similar condition of this study.

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