Response of Barhee date palm fruits to biofertilizers and vermicompost tea treatment

Saeed, H.H.M.; Abbas, M.

doi:10.21608/svuijas.2024.320462.1394

Response of Barhee date palm fruits to biofertilizers and vermicompost tea treatment

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

H.H.M. Saeed ¹
M. Abbas ²

¹ Horticulture Department, Faculty of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Aswan University, 81528 Aswan, Egypt.

² Agricultural Microbiology Department, Faculty of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Aswan University, 81528 Aswan, Egypt.

10.21608/svuijas.2024.320462.1394

Abstract

Nutrient deficiency poses a major threat to the growth and productivity of fruit crops. Applying bio-organic fertilizers or certain bacterial strains and vermicompost tea, or bio-modified fertilizers with worm compost tea, can help to minimize this threat. Thus, it is important to develop credible and usable alternatives to overcome the limitations of chemical inputs. Many bio-organic fertilizer materials have been utilized as a source of nutrients for plant crops. The effects of nutrients can be mitigated by treating certain bacterial strains and vermicompost tea as a foliar spray. To combat nutrient deficiency and improve productivity and quality trails on Barhee date palm bunches, an experiment was conducted on a farm at Kom Ombo, Aswan Governorate, Egypt, during the two successive seasons of 2022 and 2023. The experiment included eight treatments, i.e., two bacterial strains of Sphingomonas paucimobilis (ECTO 30-2) and Bacillus licheniformis (K95), as well as vermicompost tea (VCT) (earthworm’s excreta-based vermicompost) sprayed alone or in combination beside the control treatment. Results revealed that both bacterial strains, with or without VCT, achieved the highest significant increase in set and retention% of fruits as well as fruit yield and bunch weight traits during the two seasons. Bio-fertilizers with worm compost tea applications resulted in a substantial increase in both physical and chemical fruit properties. The obtained results indicated that vermicompost tea and the bacterial strain Bacillus licheniformis (K95) significantly increased the yield with good-quality of Barhee dates as compared to the control.

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