The Production of Dual-Purpose Triticale in Arid Regions: Application of Organic and Inorganic Treatments under Water Deficit Conditions

Abstract

Most of the arid and semi-arid regions, particularly in the Mediterranean area, suffer from the lack of a sufficient quantity of high-quality feed, as well as a low amount of rainfall that is unevenly distributed, resulting in the region being highly vulnerable to drought. A field experiment was carried out at the experimental station of the Faculty of Desert and Environmental Agriculture, Fuka, Matrouh University, Egypt during the winter seasons of 2018/19 and 2019/20 to study the performance of triticale (X Triticosecale Wittmack), grown under water deficit conditions, in terms of productivity and quality. The study investigated the influence of five levels of potassium fertilization (PF; 0, 43.2, 86.4, 129.6, and 172.8 kg ha−1) and ascorbic acid (AA; 0, 25, 50, 75, and 100 mg L−1) that was applied to the triticale grains before sowing and humic acid (HA; 0, 2.4, 4.8, 7.2, and 9.6 kg ha−1) that was applied as powder to the soil 21 days after sowing followed by sprinkler irrigation on triticale forage and grain production when forage was removed at variable ages at cutting (AC), determined as days after sowing (AC; 40, 65, 90, 115, and 140 DAS) on forage yield and nutritive value, in addition to the final grain yield of triticale. The experimental design was a central composite design with one replicate. Results indicated that the PF*AC interaction was significant, and it gave values of 84.78 and 238.00 g kg−1 for crude protein (CP) and degraded neutral detergent fiber (DNDF). In addition, the interaction between AA and AC was significant for CP, acid detergent fiber (ADF), 100-grain weight (100 GW), number of spikes m−2 (NSM−2), and plant height (PH). Moreover, the AC*HA interaction was significant with values of 175.17 and 247.00 g kg−1 for CP and DNDF, respectively, and 0.55 t ha−1 for grain yield (GY). Age at cutting exerted the strongest effect on the studied characteristics. It was observed that the contents of neutral detergent fiber (NDF), ADF, acid detergent lignin (ADL), and non-fiber carbohydrates (NFC) in the triticale forage significantly increased when the crop was cut at an advanced age, unlike CP, DNDF, GY, NSM−2, 100 GW, and PH that decreased with advanced AC. The highest values of 271.00, 256.00, and 268.00 g kg−1 for DNDF were obtained with higher levels of either PF, AA, or HA, respectively. However, the highest value of GY (0.97 t ha−1) was obtained with higher levels of PF*HA averaged over the two seasons. The interaction between AA*HA resulted in 393.39, 311.00, 27.13 g kg−1, and 0.94 t ha−1, for NDF, DNDF, ADL, and GY, respectively. The highest significant NDF (413.11 g kg−1) and DNDF (307.50 g ka−1) values were obtained with the application of high levels of either AA or HA. In the dual-purpose production system, it is recommended to cut the triticale crop at 65 DAS to achieve the optimum balance between forage yield and quality on the one hand, and final grain yield on the other hand. In the arid regions, application of PF, AA, and HA could help in reducing the damage caused by water deficit.