The country has a tendency to secure food supply through vertical expansion by increasing productivity per unit area, especially under conditions of stress such as salinity, in addition to horizontal expansion in new lands that may be saline or irrigated with groundwater of high salinity which affects productivity especially for sensitive crops like beans. So, two field trials were conducted to study the effect of four cobalt foliar application rates (0 ppm (as control), 5 ppm, 7.5 ppm and 10 ppm) as the main plots and four bio-stimulant treatments (control, potassium humate, potassium fulvate and seaweed extract) as foliar treatment in the sub main plots on faba bean growth, yield and its components which cultivated under salt affected soil. During the winter seasons of 2021/2022 and 2022/2023, a split plot design was used .
The obtained results could be summarized as follow: foliar application of cobalt at 10 ppm concentration recorded the highest values of the vegetative growth, yield and its components compared to the other cobalt rates. At the same time foliar application of seaweed extract as a foliar application had a superior effect on all studied parameters compared to the other foliar treatments of bio-stimulants. The interaction among cobalt at 10 ppm concentration and seaweed extract achieved the highest values of vegetative growth criteria, yield and its components of the tested plant. Economically founded that combination of cobalt at 10ppm and potassium fulvate application showed a good alternative to other treatments and viable option for enhancing crop yield and farmers income.