EFFECT OF BIOFERTILIZER APPLICATION ON SOME SUNFLOWER GENOTYPES

Abstract

As there are a lot of environmental problems gaining from chemical fertilizers multiuse, more attentions has been drawn to the application of biological fertilizers in agriculture. An investigation for study the response of three sunflower genotypes (Helianthus annus L.) Giza-102, Sakha-53, line 120 to three bio-fertilizers (Bio1= nitrogen fixing bacteria, NFB, Bio2= phosphate dissolving bacteria, PDB, Bio3= potassium edit facilitator PEF) was carried out during summer seasons of 2018 and 2019 at the Experimental Farm, Faculty of Environmental Agricultural Sciences, Arish University, EL-Arish, North Sinai Governorate Egypt to maximize seed yield and oil content of sunflower crop under the newly reclaimed soil and the environmental conditions of North Sinai. Salinity of irrigation water ranged from 4500 to 5500 ppm, using drip irrigation system. Sunflower seeds were obtained from Oil Crops Research Section, Field Crops Research Institute, while, bio-fertilizer were obtained from Bacterilization Unite, Microbiology Soil Department, Water and Soil Research Institute, Agriculture Research Center, Giza Egypt. The main results were that Sunflower Giza-102 cultivar surpassed the other studied genotypes in plant height (cm), number of leaves per plant., fresh and dry leaves weight per plant (g)., yield attributes, head diameter (cm), 100-seed weight (g), seed oil content(%), seed weight/plant (g), seed yield (kg fed-1), and oil yield(kg fed-1) seed and oil yields. In concern to biofertilizers, bio3 (potassium edit facilitator) gave superiority in most traits and seed yield but Bio1 (nitrogen fixing bacteria) gave the maximum seed oil content. So, for maximizing seed yield for sunflower under semi arid regions, Giza-102 genotype can be cultivated with bio fertilizer for potassium and nitrogen fixing bacteria.