ELEMENTAL SULFUR IMPREGNATED WITH IRON AS A FERTILIZER SOURCE FOR KENTUCKY BLUEGRASS

Elemental sulfur (S) impregnated with Fe (S-Fe) fertilizer was evaluated on Kentucky bluegrass (KBG; Poa pratensis L.) in three glasshouse studies: (1) with/without Fe as S-Fe, ferrous sulfate (FS), or iron-ethylenediamine-N,N’-bis(2-hydroxyphenylacetic acid) (Fe-EDDHA) to soil (49 kg Fe ha^?1), or foliar Fe-EDDHA (5 kg Fe ha^?1) on two cultivars; (2) 0, 49, 197, or 592 kg Fe ha^?1 of S-Fe deep mixed or surface mixed on two soils; (3) 0 or 49 kg Fe ha^?1 applied as S-Fe on four cultivars. A field study comparing 0 and 49 kg Fe ha^?1 applied as S-Fe to KBG was also conducted. Soil applied S-Fe was assimilated in shoots as efficiently as Fe-EDDHA applied to soil or foliage. Shoot Fe increased significantly with increasing S-Fe in a curvilinear response when deep mixed with soil and in a linear response when surface applied. However, no Fe source tested impacted yield or verdure in these studies.     

EFFECT OF SOIL WATER AND NUTRIENTS ON PRODUCTIVITY OF KENTUCKY BLUEGRASS SYSTEM IN ACIDIC SOILS

The grasslands of the Appalachian region spread over undulating terrain with high annual precipitation rate which causes a large variation in soil and nutrient factors like water potential (WP), pH, nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) levels. There is a need to understand these factors and their interactive effects to design precise agronomic practices for acidic grasslands to maximize production. A pot experiment was conducted with an objective to quantify the effects of WP, pH, N and P rates on herbage accumulation and nutrient recovery of Kentucky bluegrass (Poa pratensis L.) cropping system. Centrally rotatable composite design was applied to study the effects of two levels of WP and five levels each of pH, N, and P fertilizer additions in order to optimize bluegrass herbage mass (yield). WP, pH, and N were significant main effects, as were the interactions WP × pH, WP × N, and pH × N. The yield response function was derived from these four factors. The order of importance for these model parameters based on their effect on herbage accumulation was WP > N > WP × pH > pH >WP × N > pH × N. The optimum levels of WP, soil pH, N, and P rates were predicted for Kentucky bluegrass by using the response surface yield model of this pot study i.e., WP of ?422 kPa to ?166 kPa, 5.5–6.1 soil pH, 50–68 N mg kg^?1, 36–40 P mg kg^?1. Concentration (%) of nutrients like N, P, potassium (K), calcium (Ca), and magnesium (Mg) were determined to study the impact of WP, pH, N, and P factors and their interactions on plant nutrient recovery. Main effects like WP, pH, and N levels had significant influence on N and P concentration in plant tissue. K, Ca, and Mg concentrations in plant tissue were significantly affected by WP, pH and their interaction. The results of this greenhouse study imply the necessity to incorporate the information about the variation of soil and nutrient factors in designing precise agronomic practices to low productive acid reclaimed grasslands with undulating topography and high annual precipitation rate.     

INHERITANCE OF RESISTANCE TO IRON DEFICIENCY CHLOROSIS IN CHICKPEA (CICER ARIETINUM L.)

Iron (Fe)-deficiency chlorosis causes considerable yield losses in chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) when susceptible genotypes are grown in calcareous soils with high pH. The most feasible method for alleviating Fe deficiency is the selection of suitable cultivars resistant to Fe deficiency chlorosis. ICC 6119 (desi type), which is Fe-deficient chlorosis, was crossed with CA 2969 and Sierra (kabuli types), resistant to Fe deficiency chlorosis. Inheritance of resistance to Fe deficiency in chickpea revealed that the resistance was controlled by a single dominant gene in these genotypes crossed. A negative selection for resistance to Fe deficiency chlorosis will be effective after segregating generations.     

ADVERSE EFFECTS OF HUMIC SUBSTANCES FROM DIFFERENT ORIGIN ON LUPIN AS RELATED TO IRON SOURCES

Humic substances improve the efficiency of different iron (Fe) sources overcoming Fe deficiency chlorosis of plants. However, applied at high rates, they can promote negative effects on plants. The main objective of this work was to study the potential adverse effect of three humic acids from different origin when they were applied with two effective Fe sources for plants: Fe- ethylenediaminedihydroxyphenylacetic acid (EDDHA) and Vivianite. To this end, an experiment with lupin (Lupinus albus L.) was performed involving two factors: (i) Fe source, and (ii) humic substances from three different origin (composted cork, leonardite, and compost obtained from a mixture of olive husk with cotton gin trash) applied at 0, 0.1, and 0.5 g organic carbon (C) kg^?1 of growing media. At the rates used, humic substances promoted adverse effects on plant development, chlorophyll meter readings, and Fe content in lupin grown in calcareous media. Overall, the effect on dry matter and Fe content in plants was more relevant when Fe was supplied with Vivianite, the effect on chlorophyll meter readings being more significant when Fe was applied as Fe-EDDHA. Differences were also observed depending on the source of humic substances, those from leonardite promoting the greatest decrease in dry matter in roots and shoots. These humic substances possessed the highest values of spectroscopy index for aromaticity (A₂₅₄ ). On the other hand, the application of humic substances from olive husk compost, which exhibited the lower aromaticity index, resulted in the smallest decrease in dry matter production and chlorophyll meter readings. Dry matter in roots decreased logarithmically with increased values of the estimates of the amounts of aromatic compounds accumulated in the growing media (R² = 0.92; P < 0.01) with Vivianite as Fe source. Thus, the effects decreasing dry matter production, particularly in roots, and chlorophyll meter readings can be ascribed at least partially to the presence of phytotoxic aromatic compounds in humic substances.     

RELATIVE SUSCEPTIBILITY OF SOME PRUNUS ROOTSTOCKS IN HYDROPONICS TO IRON DEFICIENCY

The susceptibility of eleven Prunus rootstocks to iron (Fe) deficiency was studied in hydroponics by growing them with 20 μM Fe, 0 μM Fe or 3 μM Fe+10 mM sodium bicarbonate. Based on the intensity of leaf chlorosis, the peach-almonds PR 204/84, Stylianidis K and KID2, produced at the Pomology Institute of Naoussa (Greece), showed the same or even greater tolerance than GF 677, the Greek peach-almond Retsou x Nemaguard, the plum-almond Myrandier 617 and the peaches GF 305, IDS 37, Greek wild peach seedling the greatest susceptibility whereas the plums St. Julien GF655/2 and Myrobalan 29C intermediate. Rootstocks without Fe presented significantly lower nitrogen and Fe whereas with bicarbonate significantly lower nitrogen, phosphorus, Fe and zinc. Root ferric chelate reductase activity was significantly increased in ?Fe rootstocks but negatively correlated with their tolerance; physiological and morphological changes were observed along a zone of a few centimeters length, 1–2 mm behind the root tip.