الفهرس 
IntroductionOnly 14 pages are availabe for public view
 |  | from | 136 |  |  |
| | | from | 136 | | |
Abstract
The present investigation was executed as a field experiment during two successive seasons of 2006 / 2007 and 2007 / 2008 to explore the effect of farmyard manure at four levels (0, 10, 15 and 20 m3 / fed.) and bio and / or NPK fertilization, as well as, the interaction between the FYM and bio and / or mineral NPK on the vegetative growth traits, flowering aspects, seed yield, yield of alkaloids and chemical composition of borage (Borago officinalis) plants.
The most important results of this study could be summarized as follows :
1- Effect of FYM fertilization :
1- A- Vegetative growth traits :
All vegetative growth traits of borage plants, namely, plant height, stem diameter, number of branches / plant, leaf area and herb fresh and dry weights / plant significantly promoted by fertilizing borage plants with FYM at 10, 15 and 20 m3 / fed. compared with unfertilized control plants, the increment in vegetative growth aspects was parallel with the gradual increase in FYM level, therefore, high level 20 m3 / fed. was the most effective treatment.
1- B- Flowering aspects :
Flowering aspects of borage plants i.e. number of inflorescences / plant, flowering spike diameter, number of flowers / inflorescence, total flowers fresh and dry weights / plant were significantly augmented due to application of FYM treatments in comparison with untreated plants. FYM at 20 m3 / fed. gave the highest values of the aforementioned flowering aspects.
1- C- Seed yield :
Application of FYM at the three examined levels (10, 15 and 20 m3 / fed.) significantly improved seed yield of borage plants in comparison with control. The best results were obtained due to high level of FYM treatment.
1- D- Chemical composition :
• Total alkaloids content and yield :
- Alkaloids content as mg / g D. wt. of the herb, flowers and seeds of borage plants was promoted due to FYM fertilization treatments compared with control with highest content due to FYM at 20 m3 / fed.
- Yield of alkaloids / herb and / flowers and / seeds, as well as, total alkaloids yield per plant was significantly stimulated by application of FYM at 10, 15 and 20 m3 / fed. compared with untreated plants. The highest yield / plant of total alkaloids in whole plant was obtained as a result of FYM at 20 m3 / fed.
• Photosynthetic pigments :
Supplement of FYM at three levels (10, 15 and 20 m3 / fed.) led to significant increment in the contents of the three photosynthetic pigments in comparison with control treatment. Highest content of chlorophyll a, b and carotenoids was recorded due to the application of high level of FYM.
• N, P and K % :
Treating borage plants with FYM at different levels (10, 15 and 20 m3 / fed.) led to significant increases of the percentages of N, P and K in the dried herb compared with unfertilized plants. The highest percent of each element was found in the herb of plants treated with FYM at 20 m3 / fed.
2- Effect of bio and / or NPK fertilization treatments :
2- A- Vegetative growth traits :
All Vegetative growth traits, plant height, stem diameter, branch number / plant, leaf area and herb fresh and dry weights / plant were greatly increased due to use of all bio and / or mineral NPK treatments. However, mineral NPK (full dose) treatment gave the highest values, followed by 75 % NPK + biofertilizers treatment.
2- B- Flowering aspects :
Using of all biofertilizers (phosphorein, Minia Azotein and Effective microorganisms), biofertilizers + 75 % NPK and NPK (full dose) on borage plants significantly improved number of inflorescences / plant, spike diameter, number of flowers / inflorescence and flowers fresh and dry weights / plant comparing with control treatment. In all cases, the mineral NPK (full dose) followed by 75 % NPK + biofertilizers were the most beneficial treatments which resulted in the maximum values.
2- C- Seed yield :
Using of all eight fertilization treatments on borage plants significantly improved seed weight / plant in comparison with the control. Among the eight treatments, mineral NPK followed by 75 % NPK + biofertilizers were more effective than other treatments.
2- D- Chemical composition :
• Total alkaloids content and yield :
- Generally, the content of alkaloids in herb, flowers and seeds was increased due to biofertilizers and / or mineral NPK fertilization treatments compared with those of control treatment. The highest content of alkaloids in the three organs of borage plant was resulted from fertilization of NPK full dose followed by 75 % NPK + biofertilizers.
- Alkaloids yield / herb and / flowers and / seeds, as well as, total alkaloids yield / plant was augmented by fertilizing the borage plants with 100 % NPK followed by 75 % NPK + biofertilizers.
• Photosynthetic pigments :
All used bio and / or NPK fertilization treatments significantly enhanced the contents of chlorophyll a, b and carotenoids in comparison with control during the two growing seasons, except the treatment of phosphorein in the first season. The highest content of the photosynthetic pigments was resulted from application of NPK (100 %) followed by 75 % NPK + biofertilizers.
• N, P and K % :
The eight fertilization treatments tested in this study led to significant increases in the percentages of N, P and K in the dry leaves of borage plants when compared with the control plants. The use of mineral NPK (full dose) gave higher percentages of N, P and K than other treatments.
3- Effect of the interaction treatments :
3- A- Vegetative growth traits :
The interaction between FYM and fertilization treatments had significant influence on vegetative growth traits of borage plants including plant height, stem diameter (only in second season) and herb fresh and dry weights / plant in comparison with control treatment.
3- B- Flowering aspects :
The interaction between the two main factors was significant for number of inflorescences / plant, flowering spike diameter, number of flowers / inflorescence and flowers fresh and dry weights / plant during the two seasons, except flowering spike diameter, number of flowers / inflorescence and flowers fresh and dry weights / plant in the second seasons. The best interaction treatments were FYM at 20 m3 / fed. in combination with NPK (100 %) followed by 75 % NPK + biofertilizers.
3- C- Seed yield :
The highest seed yield / plant was produced from plants fertilized with FYM (20 m3 / fed.) combined with mineral NPK (full dose) or 75 % NPK + biofertilizers.
3- D- Chemical composition :
• Total alkaloids content and yield :
- The content of alkaloids in the herb, flowers and seeds of borage plants was affected significantly by interaction treatments.
- The interaction treatments significantly increased alkaloids yield of each herb, flowers and seeds, as well as, total alkaloids yield /plant. The highest yield of alkaloids / plant was obtained from plants fertilized with FYM (20 m3 / fed.) + mineral NPK (100 %) followed by FYM (20 m3 / fed.) + 75 % NPK + biofertilizers.
• Photosynthetic pigments :
The interaction between the two main factors (A × B) was significant on chlorophyll a, b and carotenoids contents in both seasons. The combination treatments of all levels of FYM plus NPK (100 %) or 75% NPK + biofertilizers resulted the highest values of aforementioned characters. However, fertilized plants with FYM (20 m3 / fed.) + 100 % NPK or 75 % NPK + biofertilizers resulted the maximum values of the three photosynthetic pigments.
• N, P and K % :
The highest N, P and K % was obtained due to high level of FYM (20 m3 fed.) in combination with mineral NPK (full dose).
Recommendation :
From the obtained results, it could be recommended to apply the soil of borage plants with FYM at 20 m3 / fed. and fertilized plants with mineral NPK (full dose) or reduced NPK (75 % of the recommended dose) plus a mixture of biofertilizers (E.M. + M.A. + phosphorein) to improve the vegetative growth, flowering aspects, seed yield as well as chemical composition, especially total alkaloids yield / borage plant under the conditions of Minia Governorate.