الفهرس | Only 14 pages are availabe for public view |
Abstract Saline soil is one of the major abiotic stresses that minify plant growth and crop productivity in arid and semiarid regions. A pot experiment was conducted during the summer season of 2019 at the Experimental greenhouse of Faculty Agriculture (Saba-Basha), Alexandria University, Egypt, to evaluate the effect of zeolite rates and urea fertilizer levels on growth and yield of maize grown under saline conditions. Four levels of zeolite clinoptilolite {0 (control), 2, 4 and 6 %} and four levels of urea fertilizer {0 (control), 40, 80 and 120 kg N/fed} were combined and randomly arranged in a factorial completely randomized block design with four replicates. A combined soil sample was collected from 0-30 surface layer of a salt-affected farm. The soil sample was air-dried, greatly crushed with a wooden pestle and sieved through < 2 mm sieves. Black plastic pot type with 4-liter capacity was selected and filled with 4 kg of the set soil. Maize (Zea mays, L. cv. Hybrid 3062) seeds were obtained from Field crops Research Institute, Agricultural Research Center, Giza. Five seeds were sown with 3 cm depth in each pot and then thinned to 3 seedlings after germination. The desired soil moisture regime was achieved by watering to 80% of FC% as optimal value. Potassium and phosphorus fertilizers were applied as recommended. Pots were harvested 90 days after planting. |