INFLUENCE OF TILLAGE METHOD, DEPTH AND TIMING OF NITROGEN FERTILIZATION ON SOIL BULK DENSITY MOISTURE AND PEANUT CROP GROWTH

A field experiment was conducted for two years 2011-2012 to evaluate the effect of various tillage implements, tillage depths and nitrogen fertilizer timing application on soil bulk density, its moisture, and peanut growth. Three different implements were used: moldboard (MP), chisel (CP) and disk ploughs (DP). Tillage depth treatments (split-plots) included (8-10) cm, (18- 20) cm and (28- 30) cm tillage depths; D1, D2 ,D3 respectively. Timing applications (split-split- plots) were: T1 all nitrogen fertilizer applied at planting ,T2 half nitrogen applied at planting and half at flowering ,T3 all nitrogen fertilizer applied at flowering. All tillage implements decreased soil bulk density for the tillage depth. They were for treatments (DP,CP,MP) at (0-10)cm depth (1.31,1.33,1.29) g/cm3, (1.31,1.32,1.31) g/cm3 at (10-20) cm depth and (1.36,1.37,1.35)g/cm3at(20-30) cm depth. Soil moisture increased in treatments (DP,CP) with increasing tillage depth .There was no effect of previous factors on main branches, but timing of nitrogen fertilizers (T1, T2) effected secondary branches significantly compared to T3. Moldboard significantly increased leaf area to (1.77) m2/plant compared to chisel (CP) and disk ploughs (DP). Also D2, D3 increased leaf area compared to D1. (T1, T2) significantly increased leaf area compared to T1. Interaction between timing of application and depth (D3 xT2) gave significant differences. The best value was (1.85) m2/plant for the two years.

Improve some of the physical properties of the soil using some organic materials

This study was conducted during the 2011-2012 and 2012-2013 seasons in Abu-Jarash orchards area in Damascus to identify the effect of improved organic materials as sludge, manure and compost in improving some soil physical characteristics and wheat productivity. Results showed that the three types of organic material affected the physical characteristics of the studied soil. They decreased its bulk density, increased its total porosity and increased its ability of holding water at field capacity. Results also showed that the compost of city wastes was the best in improving soil physical properties. The three organic materials, particularly the sludge increased the total productivity of wheat (Sham3).