Effect of rock phosphate and bacteria solubilizing nutrients soil application on yield and fruit quality of olive trees cv. “Picual” under the arid zones

Abstract

This study was carried out throughout two seasons and Located in a private olive grove on Cairo-Ismailia Desert Road in Egypt. The aim of this experiment was to use different amounts of rock phosphate (1, 2 or 3 kg/tree) with different time of additions (2 or 3 times) for phosphorous and sulfur release bacteria to form 6 treatments beside the control (untreated trees) on the mineral contents of the leaves, the vegetative growth, the yield, and the quality of the fruit of Picual olive trees planted in sandy soil and watered with drip irrigation for two seasons. The outcomes demonstrated that application of 2 or 3 kg rock phosphate per tree for two or three times of phosphorus and sulfur release bacteria gave the highest yield and improves fruit quality. Generally, the treatment of 2 kg rock phosphate for three times of P and S release bacteria is recommended due to its clear effect among all treatments on the abovementioned parameters.