Impact of Foliar Spray by Zinc Oxide Nanoparticles on Peanut Pro-duction Under New Valley Conditions

Abstract

Increasing seed and oil yields production of oil crops in reclaimed soils is an important goal of vision Egypt 2030. Therefore, a field experiment was conducted in newly reclaimed sandy soil in Farafra, New valley Governorate, Egypt during the two summer seasons of 2017 and 2018 to examine the impact of Zn nano-fertilizer foliar spray on peanut production. The field experiment was laid out in a randomized complete block design (RCBD) using a strip plot arrangement with three replications. Zinc oxide nanoparticles concentrations (0 as control, 200, 400 and 600 ppm) were allotted horizontally while, the cultivars NC9, Gregory and Ismailia were a signed vertically. Highly significant differences were observed among zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) concentrations for most studied traits in both seasons. Furthermore, peanut cultivars had a significant effect on most studied traits in both seasons. All peanut cultivars showed remarkable positive responses to the spray of zinc nanoparticles. In most cases, an enhancement was observed in most studied traits by increasing the concentration from 200 ppm to 600 ppm. Also, NC9 cultivar gave the highest seed yield (kg/fed) in both seasons, while there were non-significant differences among peanut cultivars for oil yield (kg/fed) but as an average over both seasons, NC9 gave the highest oil yield (kg/fed). Therefore, the findings of this study suggest that NC9 cultivar with spraying by zinc nanoparticles might be a good choice for planting and production under newly reclaimed soils in the Farafra region with other ‎important recommended agronomical practices for such region.‎