الفهرس 
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Abstract
Three cuts The present work was carried out in the Nursery and Laboratory of Floriculture, Faculty of Agriculture, Minia University during the two successive seasons of 2010/2011 and 2011/2012 to investigate the effect of compost, bio. and/or mineral NPK fertilization treatments, as well as, their interactions on vegetative growth, oil yield and chemical composition of Origanum majoranum, L. plants. In this regard, two factors were examined, the main-factor (A) was compost applied at 0, 7.5, 10 and 12.5 ton/fed., while, the sub-factor (B) was control (without fertilization), phosphorein, Minia Azotein, phosphorein + Minia Azotein, phosphorein + Minia Azotein + 50 % NPK, phosphorein + Minia Azotein + 75 % of recommended NPK and recommended NPK (full dose). Also, the interactions between main and sub plots (A×B) were tested.The most important results could be summarized as follows: 1-Effect of compost :1-A- Vegetative growth traits :All vegetative growth traits of marjoram plants, namely, plant height, number of branches/plant/cut, fresh and dry weights of herb/plant/cut and /plant/season, as well as, /fed./season were significantly promoted by fertilizing marjoram plants with compost at 7.5, 10 and 12.5 ton/fed. compared with unfertilized control plants. The medium level of compost (10 ton/fed.) was the most effective treatment. 1-B- Essential oil productivity :Essential oil determinations namely, oil % in the dry herb/plant/cut, oil yield /plant/cut, oil yield/plant/season (ml/plant) and per feddan/season (liter/fed.) of marjoram plants were significantly increased by the use of the three levels of compost compared with control. The most effective treatment, which gave the greatest oil % and oil yield/plant and /fed. was the medium level of compost (10 ton/fed.). 1-C- Chemical compositions :Supplement of compost at three levels 7.5, 10 and 12.5 ton/fed. led to significant increment in the contents of chlorophyll a, b and carotenoids in comparison with the control treatments in the three cuts during both seasons. The highest values were recorded due to the application of medium level (10 ton/fed.) followed by high level (12.5 ton/fed.) of compost without significant differences between them in all cases.Treating marjoram plants with compost at different levels (low, medium and high) led to significant increases in the percentages of N, P and K in the dried herb of plants in the three cuts during both seasons compared with control. The highest percent of each element was found in the dry herb of plants treated with compost at 10 ton/fed.The highest total sugars % was resulted from the treatment of compost at 10 ton/fed. in the three cuts for both seasons comparing with other treatments.2- Effect of bio. and/or mineral NPK fertilization treatments :2-A- Vegetative growth traits :All vegetative growth traits (plant height, number of branches/plant/cut and fresh and dry weights of herb/plant/cut and /plant/season and /fed.) were greatly and significantly increased due to all used treatments than the control treatment in both seasons. However phosphorein + Minia Azotein + 75 % NPK treatment followed by mineral NPK (full dose) treatment gave the highest values with significant differences between them.2-B- Essential oil productivity :A significant increase in the essential oil % in the dry herb of marjoram plants and essential oil yield (per plant per cut and per plant/season and /fed.) was obtained as a result of the six used treatments in comparison with control in both seasons.The highest essential oil yield/plant/cut and per plant/season and /fed. were obtained due to the treatment of phosphorein + Minia Azotein + 75 % NPK followed by 100 % NPK with significant differences between such two superior treatments.2-C- Chemical compositions : All used six treatments of bio. and/or mineral NPK fertilization significantly enhanced the contents of chlorophyll a, b and carotenoids in comparison with the control treatment in the three cuts in both seasons. The highest contents of chlorophyll a, b and carotenoids were obtained due to the treatment of phosphorein + Minia Azotein + 75 % NPK followed by the treatment of NPK (full dose) without significant differences between them.The six used treatments tested in this study led to significant increase in the percentages of N, P and K in the dried herb of marjoram plants when compared with the control plants. However, the use of phosphorein + Minia Azotein + 75 % NPK and 100 % NPK alone gave significantly higher N, P and K % than other treatments.The highest values of total sugars in the three cuts in both seasons were recorded when plants received combination of phosphorein + Minia Azotein + 75 % NPK.3- Effect of the interaction treatments between compost, bio and / or NPK fertilization : 3-A- Vegetative growth traits : The interaction between compost, bio. and/or mineral NPK fertilization treatments had significant influence on all vegetative growth traits of marjoram plants in comparison with control treatment. The highest values for all vegetative growth traits were obtained due to adding compost at 10 ton/fed. or 12.5 ton/fed. in combination with phosphorein + Minia Azotein + 75 % NPK.3-B- Essential oil productivity :The interaction between main and sub plots (A×B) was significant for essential oil % and essential oil yield/plant/cut and per plant/season and fed./season in both seasons.The highest essential oil % or essential oil yield (per plant and /fed.) were obtained due to the interaction treatment of 10 ton/fed. compost with phosphorein + Minia Azotein + 75 % NPK.3-C- Chemical compositions:The interaction between main and sub-plots (A×B) was significant for chlorophyll a, b and carotenoids only in the third cut during both seasons. The highest values were obtained due to compost at 10 ton/fed. or 12.5 ton/fed. in combination with phosphorein + Minia Azotein + 75 % NPK or with mineral NPK alone (full dose). -The interaction was significant for N % in the in both seasons. The highest percentage was obtained with compost (10 ton/fed.) in combination with phosphorein + Minia Azotein + 75 % NPK or with NPK (full dose).-The interaction was significant for P % in the second and third cuts for both seasons. The highest P % was obtained with compost (10 ton/fed.) in combination with phosphorein + Minia Azotein + 75 % NPK (in all cuts) or with NPK (full dose) in some cuts.- The interaction was significant for K % in all cases, except the third cut in the first season. The highest K % was obtained from the interaction treatment of compost (10 ton/fed.) with phosphorein + Minia Azotein + 75 % NPK (in all cuts) or with NPK, full dose in the first and third cuts in the first season. -The highest content of total sugars was obtained due to the plants treated with compost (10 ton/fed.) with phosphorein + Minia Azotein + 75 % NPK or with NPK (full dose) in the third cut in the second season. RECOMMENDATION It is recommended to supply marjoram plants with compost at 10 ton/fed. and treate the plants with biofertilizers (phosphorein + Minia Azotein) + 75 % NPK (225+112.5+56.25 kg/fed., respectively) under Minia Governorate conditions