Using camel and duck manure tea for improving the quality and marketability of Egyptian Balady lime (Citrus aurantifolia L.) fruits

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Soil Improvement and Conservation Research Department, Soil, Water, and Environment Research Institute (SWERI), Agricultural Research Center, Giza, Egypt.

2 Fruit Handling Research Department, Horticulture Research Institute, Agricultural Research Center, Giza, Egypt

3 Central Laboratory of Organic Agriculture, Agricultural Research Center, Giza, Egypt

Abstract

This experiment was established to assess the impact of foliar spraying of camel and duck manure tea on the yield, fruits quality and marketability of Egyptian Balady lime (Citrus aurantifolia L.) trees under sandy calcareous soil conditions during two consecutive years, 2022 and 2023. The camel manure tea (CMT) and duck manure tea (DMT) were sprayed at two concentrations of 50% and 100% for each of them with treatments being applied three times, first at full blooming and at one-month intervals. Data analysis demonstrated that fruits’ physical and chemical characteristics increased significantly (p < 0.05) as a result of foliar spraying with camel manure tea (CMT) or duck manure tea (DMT) compared with control (water spray) at harvest time during both seasons of study. Although DMT 100% treatment was recorded as the highest values in the most evaluated characteristics, total flavonoid content was the highest value in the CMT 100% treatment. During the cold marketing period, treatment foliar sprayed with CMT 100% had the longest period of cold marketing. According to this study, the productivity, quality, and marketability of Balady lime fruits are positively impacted by foliar spraying of manure tea.

Keywords

Files

Share

How to cite

Statistics