Prof. Khaled Ali Ibrahim Bakry :: Publications:

The effect of mineral (NPK) soil application either alone or in combination with organic (compost) and some soil bio-stimulants (EM, bio-fertilizer, humic acid and compost tea) through studding their effect on fruit set %, fruit retention %, tree fruit productivity and fruit characteristics of apricot "Canino" cv., budded on local apricot rootstock grown at El-Kassasien Horticultural Research Station, Ismailia Governorate during two successive seasons of 2010 and 2011. The obtained results revealed that all investigated treatments under study except organic fertilizer (compost) at 100 % level resulted in significantly increased in fruit set %, fruit retention%, tree yield either Kg/tree or tone/feddan or number of fruits per tree in both seasons of study. Also, results indicated that fruit physical characteristics such as (fruit polar diameter, fruit equatorial diameter, fruit shape index, fruit weight, fruit size and fruit firmness) as well as some fruit chemical properties such as (fruit Juice TSS %, TSS /acid ratio and total sugars %) were improved by the different studied treatments except total acidity %. Therefore, it could be concluded that all investigated NPK soil application in mineral form, organic (compost) fertilizers and some soil stimulants results in significant effect, however, the fertilization with mineral (NPK) fertilizer at 100% level and mineral NPK in mineral form at 50% level + organic (compost) fertilizer at 50% level coupled with all tested soil stimulants were the most effective treatments for increasing fruit set %, fruit retention%, tree productivity and improving the most of studied fruit characteristics of "Canino" cv. Apricot trees.