Effect of Drip Irrigation and Phosphorus Fertilization on the Growth of Peanut Plants Grown on Sandy Calcareous Soils

FIELD experiments were carried out at the Experimental Farm of ……Arab El- Awammer Research Station, Agriculture Research Center, Assuit, Egypt, during the two successive growth summer seasons of 2010 and 2011, to study the effect of two levels of phosphorus fertigation (23 and 31 kg P2O5/ fed) divided into different doses (3, 6 and 9 doses) under different irrigation regimes (80 and 100% from pan evaporation). Water consumptive use, irrigation water use efficiency (IWUE), peanut yield and yield components were evaluated. The obtained results could be summarized as follows:

The seasonal average quantity of irrigation water applied to peanut plants was 754.8 and 943.5 mm which equals 80 and 100% of pan evaporation, respectively. The crop evapotranspiration of peanut was 858.8 and 783.6 mm in the first and second seasons, respectively, as calculated by Penman-Monteith equations.

Peanut yield and yield traits were significantly increased with increasing the levels and doses of phosphorus fertilization. The highest values of WUE and IWUE were obtained from the highest level of phosphorus fertilization under irrigation with 80% of pan evaporation.