A field experiment was conducted in the western part of Saudi Arabia to optimize irrigation water use (IWU), yields and quality of the ’Nabbut-Saif’ date palm grown in sandy loam soil under arid conditions. Four water regimes were investigated. The supplied amounts of irrigation water were 50, 65, 82 and 100% of date palm water requirements to the first (W1), second (W2), third (W3) and fourth (W4) water regimes, respectively. The daily water requirement was calculated using the Penman– Montieth equation for dry climates and applied to the trees three times a week through a drip irrigation system. Results indicated that giving 65% of total date palm water requirement maximized date yield by producing 46.1 kg per tree and resulted in the best IWU (0.8 m3 kg
1 per tree). Increasing the water regime to 82 and 100% of total water requirement produced only 45.5 and 46 kg per tree respectively and reduced IWU. Generally, fruit quality characteristics were insignificantly affected by the water regimes investigated. The results suggested that supplying 34 m3 yr
1 per tree for date palms grown under the conditions of the western part of Saudi Arabia is enough to maximize IWU, yield and quality of the ’Nabbut-Saif’ date palm cultivar. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The main aim of this research is to improve the squash yield and quality using sulphur and pozzolan as soil conditioners in Saudi Arabia. This experiment conducted during winter and spring (2012 and 2013). A split split plot design with 3 irrigation water salinity levels (IWSL) (1200, 3000, and 6000 mg/l), 4 pozzolan placements (PP) (surface, 10 cm depth, 20 cm depth, and control), 3 sulphur doses (SD) (0, 4, 6 ton/ha), and 3 treatments was used. Applied PP in the soil surface and SD 6 ton/ha under IWSL 1200 mg/l increased plant height (77.57 and 72.80%) number of leaves/plant (38.21 and 31.45 leaves), fruit setting (42.54 and 40.24%), fruit yield (23.17 and 20.53 ton/ha), and water use efficiency (294.90 and 258.79 kg/mm/ha) respectively in the winter and spring compared with the control (no pozzolan, no sulphur and IWSL 6000 mg/l).

Irrigation with wastewater is a widespread observable fact in developing countries, especially those exhibiting arid climate conditions. Utilization of large volumes of domestic wastewater effluent is part of an overall integrated water resources management. The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of irrigation by six different treated domestic wastewater qualities on the yield of Cabbage and Lettuce crops under surface and Sub-surface drip irrigation systems. Field experiments were carried out during 2011 and 2012 seasons at the Agriculture Research station of King Abdulaziz University located at Hada Alsham area north east of Jeddah city. The six water qualities were prepared by diluting treated wastewater with local groundwater of the region. The dilution percentages were 0%, 20%, 40%, 60%, 80%, and 100% treated wastewater. Crop water requirement were calculated based of Penman Monteith equation for dry land condition and supplied daily to the crops. The obtained results showed significant impact of wastewater quality and irrigation system and their interactions on vegetative yield and yield components of both crops. Irrigation with 60% and 80% wastewater under sub-surface irrigation system produced the highest yield and yield components in both seasons. Irrigation Water Use Efficiency (IWUE) of cabbage crop increased under the use of subsurface drip irrigation while IWUE of lettuce crop increased under surface drip irrigation system. Among dilution percentages, the 60% gave the highest IWUE in both crops. In conclusion, this study implies an advantage of using treated wastewater in growing vegetable crops. This in turn saves considerable quantities of local groundwater resource.

A field experiment was conducted for evaluating the effect of brackish water on citrus growth and soil chemical properties during 2008-2009. For the study, one-year-old citrus seedlings were transplanted and were drip irrigated with two types of brackish (saline) water. One with high salinity (SW) having an electrical conductivity (ECi) of 7.16 dS/m. The other with low salinity (GW) having ECi of 1.36 dS/m. Results of the study revealed that, only 14% of the total transplanted seedlings were succeeded with limited growth under SW compared to 82% with increased growth parameters under GW. Results of soil properties revealed accumulation of salts at the fringe of the irrigated area under the emitter in both irrigation waters, but the phenomenon was largely accelerated under SW. Frequent irrigation with saline water increased the accumulation of Na and Cl which decline soil chemical propertied, cause nutrients imbalance and increase toxicity, consequently plant damage.

A field experiment was carried out at the Agriculture Experimental Station of King Abdulaziz University located at Hada Alsham to study the effect of water distribution patterns on productivity of Ziziphus jujuba under arid conditions. Three water distribution treatments giving the same amount of water were investigated. The first treatment (T1) contained 8 drippers with a discharge of 4 l/h, the second treatment (T2) 4 drippers with a discharge of 8 l/h and the third one (T3) contained 2 drippers with a discharge of 16 l/h. The drippers were installed to distribute water in a circle with a diameter of 1 m around tree for the two growing seasons of 2009-2010 and 2010-2011. Results revealed that increasing number of drippers with low discharge distributed irrigation water homogenously around trees and covered large area of tree roots. T1 significantly increased branch length, number of branches, collar diameter, soil moisture content and fruit yield and quality. The increase in these parameters was gradually decreased in T2 followed by T3. Increasing number of drippers from 2 to 8 and decreasing dripper discharge from 16 to 4 l/h around tree increased fruit yield by about 78.3% and 69.4% in the first and second seasons, respectively.

A field experiment studying the effect of water stress on alfalfa (Medicago sativa) productivity and water use efficiency was conducted at the Agricultural Experimental Station of King Abdelaziz University. The design of the experiment was randomized complete block design (RCBD) with four replicates. It consisted of three treatments, namely: field capacity treatment (FC) as a control, 85% FC and 70% FC as stress treatments. The irrigation water for all treatments was precisely supplied using recent technology known as the water electronics module (WEM). Results indicated that decreasing water supply decreased fresh and dry yield of alfalfa but increased irrigation water use efficiency (IWUE). As a result, 13 and 27% of irrigation water were saved from 85% FC and 70% FC treatments respectively in each cut compared with the FC treatment. The reduction of water supply resulted in a yield reduction of 12 and 21.7% for 85% FC and 70% FC, respectively. The results also proved that WEMis a practical tool to precisely supply irrigation water and can be used effectively to control deficit irrigation. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

A field experiment was conducted to study the effect of effective microorganisms and green manure on soil properties and yield of pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum (L.) R. Br.) and alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) grown on sandy loam soil under arid conditions at Agriculture Experimental Station of King Abdulaziz University (KAU), Hada Alsham, Saudi Arabia. Four treatments were investigated. In control (T1), the soil was only treated with the recommended dose of mineral fertilizers required for the cultivated crops. The second treatment (T2) was a diluted solution (1:1000) of effective microorganisms (EM1) sprayed on the soil surface. The third treatment (T3) was green manure added as soil mulch above the ground while the fourth treatment (T4) was mixture of EM1 and green manure together. Results indicated that, EM1 and green manure improved forage yield and soil properties. The best improvement in yield was found in T4 and T3 of alfalfa and pearl millet fields, respectively. These treatments resulted also in the great reduction in soil bulk density and saturated hydraulic conductivity, high water retention and soil organic matter. Total nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, iron and magnesium were also increased under these treatments. Little enhancement in physical and chemical properties of soil was pronounced in T2 treatment since the improvements were not significant compared with the control. The results suggested that using green manure alone or mixed with EM1 is a practical method to enhance soil properties and productivity of coarse texture soils under dry land conditions.

The present study was undertaken to identify the morphological, physical and chemical characteristics of soils in Tushka, Aswan governorate, Egypt, in order to classify and evaluate them from the agricultural use view point.Tushka area is located in the western desert, upper Egypt. It lies between latitudes of 22° 48′ 00.7" and 22° 28′ 44.2'' N and longitudes of 31° 28′ 07.2" and 31° 29′ 08.2" E. The soils of the study area were none to slightly saline (ECe ranged from 0.53 to 6.85 dSm-1). Soil texture was mostly sand, loamy sand and sandy loam. Soil reaction (pH) tended to be mildly to moderately alkaline with a range of 7.6 to 8.1. Calcium carbonate and gypsum contents were very low. The soils were classified as Typic Torripsamments, Typic Torriorthents and Lithic Torriorthents. Most of the soils understudy were suitable for agricultural use. The results revealed that the capability of soils according to ASLE program was good (C2) and fair suitable (C3), moderate suitable (S3) using MicroLEIS (Cervatana model) and good, fair and poor using Modified Storie Index. Most of the selected crops were found to be the best grown ones on soils of the S2 and S3 suitability classes by ASLE program. Also, most of the selected crops were moderately (S3) and marginally suitable (S4) by MicroLEIS-ALMAGRA model. The main limitation factors of the study area for crop production were soil texture and soil depth.

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A total number of 180 one-day old of native turkey chicks were chosen in this study, for evaluating the impacts of using different attracting colors and forms of the offered feed on growth performance, carcass traits and some of health aspects, in a 3×2 factorial experimental design. The birds were allocated into three main groups according to feed color (non-colored, orange and green feeds), then each main group was divided to three sub-groups corresponded to feed form (mash and crumbles feed), respectively. The obtained results indicated that feed colors and forms changed significantly the final body weight, body weight gain, feed conversion, gizzard percentage, meat juiciness, plumage conditions and mortality rate. However, there were no significant differences among the treatments in carcass traits, meat quality (percentages of heart, liver, abdominal fat color, flavor and tenderness) and body temperature. Significant interactions of feed colors × forms groups were existed in most studied traits except in feed consumption, giblets, meat quality traits, plumage conditions and body temperature. Finally, considering the obtained results, it was observed that the native turkeys prefer green feed as crumbles over non colored or mash feed. Consequently, feeds for turkey chicks should be in green mash or crumbles during the growing period to maximize the profit.