Using Some Fertilization Treatments to Reduce the Negative Impact of Calcareous Soils on Productivity of Egyptian Cotton

Abstract

A field experiment was carried out through the two growing seasons of 2021 and 2022 to find out the impact of the addition of humic acid and sulphur at soil and foliar spraying with chelated Zn and/or chelated B in addition to their interactions on cotton cultivar Super Giza 94 (Gossypium barbadense L.) grown under calcareous soil located at El-Nubaria Station Farm, Agricultural Research Center, Egypt. The layout of the experiment was a split plot design with three replications. The obtained results revealed that humic acid as well as a mixture of chelated Zn and chelated B increased numbers of monopodia and sympodia/plant, plant height at harvest, total fruiting points number/plant and total bolls number set/plant, bolls setting%, seed cotton yield /feddan, yield components and fiber length in both seasons. Bolls shedding% was decreased in this respect. Humic acid alone significantly improved fiber fineness and decreased the 1 st sympodium node. Similarly, a mixture of chelated Zn and chelated B significantly increased fiber strength. Using humic acid interacting with a mixture of chelated Zn and chelated B significantly increased numbers of monopodia and total bolls set/plant, yield of seed cotton/feddan, yield components, fiber fineness and strength in the two seasons of study. In addition, it increased bolls setting% and number of sympodia/plant only in the 1 st season. However, bolls shedding% was decreased. Addition of humic acid to the soil interacting with chelated Zn foliar spraying recorded taller plants. It could be concluded that using humic acid interacting with a mixture of chelated Zn and chelated B alleviated and counteracted harmful effects of calcareous soil in El-Nubaria region on cotton productivity of cultivar Super Giza 94.