PRODUCTIVITY OF SOME RICE VARIETIES AS INFELUENCED BY DIFFERENT CONCENTRATIONS OF FOLIAR SPRAY OF UREA UNDER SALINE SOIL CONDITIONS

Two field experiments were conducted in salt-affected soil at El‌Sirw Agricultural Research Station Farm, Damietta, Egypt, during 1995 and 1996 growing seasons through Rice Salinity Program to study the performance of three rice varieties, Giza 178, Sakha 101 and Sakha 102 as under five concentration of foliar sprayed urea viz., 0, 5%, 10%, 15% and 20%. The ECe and the pH of the experimental site were 9.7 ds/m2 and 8, respectively. The main results could be summarized as follows: - Giza 178 produced the highest number of panicles/m2, number of filled grains/panicle and grain and straw yields, while Sakha 102 was lowest for these traits plus panicle weight. - Increasing the concentration of foliar applied urea from 0-20% resulted in a continuous increase in plant height, panicle length, number of pani‌cles/m2, number of filled grains/panicle, 1000-grain weight, panicle weight and straw yields. - The interaction between varieties and levels of foliar N had a significant effect on number of filled grains/panicle as well as grain and straw yields.