Effect of Soil Organic Additives on Growth and Yield of Tomato Under El-Arish Region Conditions

Abstract

Field experiments were carried out in summer season of 2017 and 2018 at the Experimental Farm, Faculty of Environmental Agricultural Sciences, Arish University, North Sinai, Egypt. This study aimed to study the effect of some soil organic additives (without application, application of biochar of citrus pruned branches alone at a rate of 4 ton fed-1 , application of crashed wheat straw mulch at a rate of 1.25 ton fed-1 , and application of biochar + crashed wheat straw mulch both at a ratio of 1:1(in weight basis) from their previous doses per fed. on growth and yield of tomato crop. Seeds of "GS 12 F 1 " hybrid were used and seedlings were transplanted on 23 rd April. Plants were irrigated using drip irrigation system; the plot area was 14.4 m 2 (12 m length and 1.2 m width), the distance between the plants in the same row was 50 cm; planting density was 1.67 plant/m 2. Treatments were randomly distributed in a randomized complete block design in three replications. Results cleared that soil organic additives resulted in gradually reduction in soil pH and EC during all periods of plant growth, with recording the lowest values in the late period. Also, the application of biochar + crashed wheat straw mulch followed by biochar alone recorded the lowest values in both seasons. The highest values of soil cation exchange capacity (CEC), soil cations and anions, and the lowest soil osmotic pressure were recorded with application of biochar + crashed wheat straw mulch followed by biochar alone in both seasons. Also, results indicated that the highest values of all studied vegetative growth traits, fresh and dry weight traits, and content photosynthetic pigments; viz, chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b, and carotenoids were recorded with application of biochar + crashed wheat straw mulch followed by application of biochar alone. The highest value for each of grade a, grade b, and total marketable tomato fruit yield per fed. were recorded with the application of Biochar + crashed wheat straw mulch followed by application of biochar alone in both seasons. On the other hand, the highest unmarketable yield was recorded with the control treatment (without organic additives) in both seasons, while the lowest values were recorded with application of biochar + crashed wheat straw mulch followed by application of biochar alone. Also, significant effects for organic additives were recorded for most studied fruit quality traits in both seasons.

Effect of Applying Biochar on some Soil Chemical Properties, Pathogenic Fungi and Tomato Productivity in North Sinai

“…With the passing of time from transplantation, the values of cations and anions increased. These results are in agreement with those obtained by (El-Kassas et al, 2019) and (Singh et al, 2022b) who reported that biochar application significantly increased the soil cations and anions. This is mostly because of their surface buildup at biochar C, along with soil management techniques and microorganism activity, which positively impacted the availability of organic materials (Mostafa and shaban, 2019).…”

“…The lowest values were recorded with control treatment in both seasons. These results are in agreement with those reported by (El-Kassas et al, 2019) and (Singh et al, 2022a andSingh et al, 2022b). It could be concluded that all vegetative growth trails were enhanced due to application of biochar.…”

“…This may be due to the fact that biochar as a soil additive had an important role in enhancing nutrient availability for plants which reflected positive effects on plant growth. Also, our results are in the same direction of results obtained by (El-Kassas et al, 2019) and (Singh et al, 2022b) who indicated that effects of biochar were due to processes that increase the availability of nutrients to plants…”

“…These impacts of biochar, which improved soil's physical and chemical qualities, could be to blame for these outcomes. Additionally, these findings support those of (El-Kassas et al, 2019) and (Singh et al, 2022b), who claimed that applying biochar greatly boosted the soil's cations exchange capacity (CEC) The oxygencontaining functional groups (carboxyl, carbonyl, and hydroxyl) found in pyrolysis-recommended residues in biochars can improve CEC in soils. In general, biochars application significantly increased the soil cation exchange capacity in the soil.…”

“…The impact of biochar on the characteristics of photosynthetic organisms and tomato yield under reduced nitrogen fertilizer application is still not well understood (Guo et al, 2021). Sinai soil is in general characterized as sandy soil, which is very poor soil in mineral nutrients, has low moisture holding capacity, has single grain structure, susceptibility to erosion in addition low quantities of organic matter content and microorganisms (El-Kassas et al, 2019). Concerns regarding the sustainability of agriculture are raised by the low fertility of highly worn soils, which has prompted the development of management strategies to improve or restore fertility.…”