A field experiment was conducted on a clay soil at a Private Farm, Damas
Village, Mit Ghamer district, Dakahliea Governorate, Egypt during the growing
winter season of 2009-2010 to study the integrated effect of organic manure
(farmyard manure, FYM) as an organic soil amendment and urea on wheat yield
(Triticum aestivium L., Gemmiza 9 cv.) and grain quality. Farmyard manure
(FYM) was applied at three rates of 0, 15 and 30 m3 fed-1, while urea was added
at the rates of 0, 46, 69 kg fed-1. The experimental design was a split plot, with
nine treatments, i.e., F0U0 as a control, F0U1, F0U2, F1U0, F1U1, F1U2, F2U0, F2U1
and F2U2. The main plots were occupied with the applied FYM rates, meanwhile
the added urea rates were arranged among the sub-plots, and then each treatment
was replicated three times. The plot area was 10.5 m2 (3 × 3.5 m), which
represents approximately 1/400 feddan.
The obtained results showed that the applied different FYM and urea rates
exhibited a significantly ameliorated for each of the studied wheat plant
parameters at growth (i.e., plant height and No. of either tillers or spikes/plant)
and harvest stages (i.e., biological yield of grain plus straw yields and their
contents of N, P, K, Fe, Mn and Zn) as well as grain quality (i.e., 1000 grain
weight, grain contents of protein, carbohydrates and sugar fractions). The
favourable effects of the applied treatments were extended to improve some soil
properties, i.e., lowering soil pH and increasing soil available contents of either
macro- (N, P and K) or micronutrients (Fe, Mn and Zn).
Also, it was observed that the effect of the applied treatments was
positively reflected on soil biological activity that represented by CO2 evolution
from soil before and after irrigation during the growing agriculture season. From
the economical point of view, the results of this study showed that the integrated
effect of the combined treatment of (30 m3 FYM/fed + 46 kg urea/fed) was
recorded best values for all the aforementioned plant parameters and soil
properties, taking into consideration the possible adverse fears of human health
through environmental risks as a result of the excessive use of nitrogenous
fertilizers.