Effect of Planting Distances and Spraying with Plant Extracts on Seed Yield and Biochemical Compounds of Castor (Ricinus communis L.)

• Salwa Alwan Khan1, Ahmed Yassin Hassan2

  Author

A field experiment was conducted at the Agricultural Research Station, Department of Field Crop Sciences / College of Agriculture – University of Diyala / Iraq, to study the effect of planting distances and spraying with plant extracts on seed and oil yield of castor. The experiment was carried out using a Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with a split-plot arrangement, including three planting distances between plants (45, 65, 85) cm and four levels of plant extracts (0, 50+50, 100+100, 150) ml L⁻¹. The results showed that the planting distance of 65 cm significantly outperformed in seed yield and biochemical compounds, while the 85 cm distance recorded the highest oil percentage, and the 45 cm distance gave the highest phenolic content. The fatty acid analysis results also indicated that the 85 cm planting distance increased ricinoleic, oleic, and linoleic acids. Regarding spraying with plant extracts, it improved most of the studied traits, with the (100+100) ml L⁻¹ treatment excelling, while the highest value of ricinoleic acid was recorded at the (50+50) ml L⁻¹ concentration, and the highest concentrations of oleic and linoleic acids were achieved at the (150) ml L⁻¹ concentration. For the interaction between planting distances and spraying with plant extracts, the treatment (65 cm +100+100 ml L⁻¹) excelled in seed yield and oil yield, while the treatment (85 cm + 100+100 ml L⁻¹) recorded the highest oil percentage, and the treatment (45 cm + 100+100 ml L⁻¹) gave the highest phenolic content. The study recommends adopting a planting distance of 65 cm with spraying of plant extracts at a concentration of (100+100) ml L⁻¹ to obtain the highest seed and oil yield, while using the 85 cm planting distance to improve oil quality in terms of fatty acid composition

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