The experiment was conducted through two successive seasons of 2008 and 2009 at El-Bosaily farm, El-Behira governorate at the North Coastal of the Nile Delta, in Egypt. This work aimed to study the effect of three greenhouse covers (polyethylene sheet, white and black net) and three irrigation levels [80%, 100% and 120% of the potential evapotranspiration estimated according to class A pan equation (ETo)], applied by drip irrigation system, on plant growth and crop yield of Cucumber (Cucumis sativus L. cv. Reda F1). The experimental design was split-plot with three replicates. The results showed that white net greenhouse cover optimized growth and yield of cucumber plant. White net cover treatment recorded the highest vegetative growth (plant height, number of leaves, total leaves area, total fresh and dry weights), and significantly increased total yield. The highest vegetative growth was obtained by 100% ETo compared to 80 and 120% ETo treatments. The interaction among water treatment and greenhouse cover indicated the highest vegetative growth and crop yield were obtained under white net cover with 100% ETo.
Accumulation of high level of nitrate (NO3−) in leaves is a serious issue for vegetable crops like lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.). Therefore, this study aimed to limit NO3− level by adjusting the balance between fertilization and irrigation program in lettuce. In a strip plot design with three replicates, lettuce plants were grown under four fertilizer treatments and three irrigation regimes. Three organic fertilizers (biochar, compost and vermicompost), in addition to mineral fertilizer, were used. The irrigation regimes were 60, 80 and 100% of crop evapotranspiration, ETc (ETc60, ETc80, and ETc100). Nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) potassium (K) and organic matter (OM) in soil as well as yield, N, P, K and NO3− of lettuce were estimated. Findings showed that vermicompost or biochar (with any irrigation regime) as well as compost with irrigation by ETc60 were the effective combinations for increasing K content in soil after harvest. Under irrigation by ETc80 or ETc100, vermicompost or biochar were the efficient treatments for increasing lettuce yield equaling the farmer common practice (ETc100 x mineral fertilizer). Under irrigation by ETc60, mineral fertilizer or vermicompost showed the highest lettuce leaf content of K. Moreover, ETc60 or ETc80 x mineral fertilizer recorded the maximum NO3− content of lettuce leaves. The accumulation of nitrate in lettuce leaves owing to mineral fertilizer reached about 1.24 times than that of organic fertilizers. Compost x ETc80 or ETc100 showed the minimal NO3–N accumulation, hence, high relative reductions in NO3–N accumulation as compared to the common practice (ETc100 x mineral fertilizer) were observed. In conclusion, irrigation by 80% instead of 100% of crop evapotranspiration of organically fertilized lettuce (especially with vermicompost) could be adopted since such practice recorded high lettuce productivity with low NO3− content.
The use of nitrogenous fertilizers in agriculture can cause uncontrolled gas emissions, such as N2O and CO2, leading to global warming and serious climate change. In this study, we evaluated the greenhouse gases emissions (GHGs) that are concomitant with applied different rates of N fertilization, such as 60%, 70%, 80%, 90%, 100%, 110%, and 120% of the recommended dose in green beans grown under three irrigation systems (surface, subsurface, and drip irrigation). The obtained results showed that GHGs were positively correlated with increasing the rate of N fertilization. Meanwhile, the subsurface irrigation system followed by drip irrigation achieved the highest significant (p ≤ 0.05) values regarding the growth and pod yield attributes. Furthermore, N supplements at 90% and/or 100% of the recommended dose under the subsurface irrigation system led to the highest concentration of chlorophyll, vitamin C, total protein, and activities of antioxidant enzymes, including catalase (CAT), superoxide dismutase (SOD), and peroxidase (POX). Proline and pod fibers were decreased in parallel with increasing the N rate, while water use efficiency (WUE) was improved with increasing the rate of N supplements up to 100% or 110% of the recommended dose.
The need for extend the urban horticulture to cover the food security demands, to mitigate CO2 emissions and avoid the extreme heat waves drive this study to investigate the ability of using soilless culture systems, vermicomposting technology and net cover in producing vegetables in urban area in summer season. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of different vermicompost rates mixed with the standard substrate peat moss: perlite (perlite: peat moss: vermicompost (45:45:10) (Mix.10%), perlite: peat moss: vermicompost (40:40:20) (Mix.20%), perlite: peat moss: vermicompost (35:35:30) (Mix.30%) and perlite: peat moss (50:50 V/V) (Control) under three microclimate conditions (plants covered with black net, white net and without cover) on vegetative growth and yield of sweet pepper (Capsicum annuum L. cv. Reda) grown in pots culture during summer seasons of 2012 and 2013 at the Central Laboratory for Agricultural Climate, Agricultural Research Center, Dokki, Giza Governorate.
Physical and chemical properties of substrates, vegetative growth and yield characteristics, agrometerological data and mineral contents were determined. The obtained data indicated that vermicomposting could contribute in mitigate CO2 emission, save the essential nutrients and energy via recycling the urban organic wastes to vermicompost. The physical and chemical properties were affected by vermicompost. The best vegetative growth and yield of sweet pepper were given by (Mix.20%) vermicompost mixture followed by (Mix.10%) and (Mix.30%) vermicompost mixture. There were also significant differences between cover net treatments in affecting vegetative growth and yield of pepper, the white net was superior for producing pepper during the summer season; while the black net gave the lowest plant growth and yield. The best treatment was (Mix.20%) vermicompost mixture with white net cover, while the lowest vegetative growth and yield were obtained by (Control) vermicompost mixture with black cover net during the two tested seasons. These results suggested that vermicomposting and green roof can be used in urban area for producing food instead of incineration the urban organic wastes or imported food from rural area and using white cover net to improve the pepper growth and productivity during summer season.
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