The research was conducted at the Forestry Nursery of the Directorate
of Agriculture in Deir Ezzor Governorate during the growing season of
2019. The objective of the study was to study the effect of humic acid
application and different irrigation
intervals on chemical composition of
blue panic plant (Panicum antidotale). The experiment was implemented in
a Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) by planting Panicum seeds
in polyethylene bags filled with 2 soils to 1 sand mixture in four replicates.
Whereas three irrigation intervals (7, 14, and 21 days) and two humic acid
application treatments (control without addition and application of humic
acid) were used. Fresh plant sample from each treatment was taken at each
cut, and samples were dried at 70C
until weight was stable. Chmeical
compostion was conducted for the samples and dry matter %, crude protein
%, crude fiber %, total carbohydrate %, and ether extract % were estimated
according the the common methods. The results showed that the control
treatment (irrigation every 7 days) was significantly superior to the two
irrigation treatments every 14 days and 21 days in the percentage of soliable
carbohydrates (42.09%). While, irrigation treatment every 14 days
outperformed the other irrigation treatments and recorded the highest values
of percentage of crude protein (17.07%) and the percentage of ether extract (2.73%). The irrigation treatment every 21 days gave the highest values of
ash percentage (16.38%). No significant differences were recorded between
the irrigation treatments for the percentage of dry matter and the percentage
of crude fiber. The control treatment of humic acid outperformed the
addition of humic acid interms of the percentage of crude fiber (CF), while
the treatment of addition of humic acid outperformed the control in the
percentages of crude protein (CP), ash and ether extract (EE). No significant
differences were recorded between the application and control of humic acid
treatments in dry matter % and the percentage of soluble carbohydrates. The
effect of the interaction between irrigation intervals and the application of
humic acid was significant for all the studied characteristics. The control
treatment (irrigation every 7 days) with the addition of humic acid recorded
the highest values for the percentage of soluble carbohydrates (42.92%).
The irrigation treatment every 14 days with the addition of humic acid gave
the highest values in the percentage of crude protein (17.81%), the
percentage of ash (16.55%) and the percentage of extracted ether (2.81%).
As for the irrigation treatment every 21 days with the addition of humic
acid, had the highest values for the percentage of dry matter (96.25%)