A nonpathogenic isolate of Rhizoctonia solani (No. 521, AG-4) induced increased growth in a variety of crops. In field experiments, it was expressed in increases of plant weight, cotton fiber weight, or grain yield. The increases for treated compared with untreated plants were as follows: radish, 13.4–19.8% fresh weight and 28.4–36.0% dry weight; carrot, 30.0–97.6% fresh weight and 55.0–150.5% dry weight; lettuce, 58.4% fresh weight and 61.8% dry weight; cotton, 28.7% fiber weight; wheat, 10.6–25.3% weight per grain and 15.4–36.5% grain yield. For the potato crop, although an increase in leaf, shoot, and tuber weight was induced by R. solani 63–70 days after planting, it was not expressed in yield at harvest time.

Two field experiments were carried out at the experimental station of National Research Centre, Al-Nubaria District, El-Behira Governorate, Egypt during winter seasons of 2011/2012 and 2012/2013 to study the effect of potassium soil application at the rates (0, 50, 75 and 100 kg/fed.) with or without chelated zinc foliar application 5% at the rate of (0.03 kg/fed.) on the yield and quality of two flax varieties (Sakha-2 and Amon) in newly reclaimed sandy soil. The obtained results could be summarized as follow: Sakha-2 variety significantly surpassed Amon in plant height, technical length, number of branches/plant, seed yield/plant, straw yield/plant, 1000 seed weight, seed yield/fed., straw yield/fed., fiber %, fiber yield/fed. and oil yield/fed. Amon variety surpassed Sakha-2 in fruiting zone length, number of capsules/plant and oil % in both seasons. Potassium soil application at the rate of (100 kg/fed.) with chelated zinc foliar application 5% at the rate of (0.03 kg/fed.) gave the highest value for all studied characters.

Two field experiments were conducted during the two winter seasons of 1998/1999 and 1999/2000 in a private farm at El-Nagah Village, South El-Tahrir province, El-Behaira Governorate, Egypt. The aim of this study was to compare the effect of different forms of nitrogen fertilizer, i.e., ammonium sulphate 20.6% N, ammonium nitrate 33.5% N, and Enciabien 40% N (slow-release) with or without organic manure at 20 m3/fed (4200 m2) on the yield and nutrient contents of the wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) cultivar Sakha 69. The results indicated that the use of organic manure surpassed the control which gave the highest number of spikes/plant, 1000-grain weight, grain yield (t/fed), crop index, harvest index, grain N, P and protein. The use of slow-release nitrogen fertilizer gave the highest 1000-grain weight, biological yield/plant, grain yield and biological yield (t/fed), grain N and protein if compared with other nitrogen sources. The highest tiller/plant, 1000- grain weight, grain yield (t/fed) and grain N and P gave the best results when slow-release nitrogen fertilizer was combined with organic manure at 20 m3/fed.

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Long-term field studies are important to generate information on changes in soil, which help in understanding nutrients management strategies for sustainable crop production. The present study was carried out in Kafr El-Kadera village at El-Monofia governorate, Egypt located at Middle Delta. It started in 1981 and was repeated in 2008 to evaluate the effect of continuous cropping, tillage and unbalanced fertilizers use on soil properties. The village cultivates two irrigated crops/year. Fertilizers used are nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) only. No potassium (K) or micronutrients were used. Results showed that, electrical conductivity (EC) showed decrements, while organic matter (OM) and CaCO 3 showed increases with time. The average values of P content increased with time in all sites. On the other hand, potassium and micronutrients (Fe, Mn, Zn and Cu) showed decreases with time.