Effect of Phosphorus and Perlite Addition and Aspirin Spraying on Improving the Growth and Yield of Barley Grown in Saline Soil

• DHUHA ABDULLAH MHMOOD 1 Hussein Aziz Mohammed 2

  Author

• DHUHA ABDULLAH MHMOOD 1 Hussein Aziz Mohammed 2

  Author

A pot experiment was conducted at the Graduate Research Station, College of Agriculture, University of Diyala, Iraq, during 2025–2026 growing season to evaluate the individual and interactive effects of phosphorus, perlite, and foliar application of aspirin on selected physiological and yield traits of barley grown in saline clay soil. The experiment included 36 plastic pots, each sown with 25–35 seeds and irrigated using a T-Tape drip irrigation system. Treatments were arranged in a factorial experiment (2 × 2 × 3) based on a randomized complete block design (RCBD) with three replicates. The factors consisted of two soil-applied phosphorus levels (0 and 5 g kg⁻¹ soil), two perlite levels (0 and 25 g kg⁻¹ soil), applied once before sowing, and three foliar aspirin at (0, 10, and 20 g L⁻¹), applied twice during the growing season. Phosphorus application significantly increased available soil phosphorus, leaf area, and grain yield per plant. Perlite significantly enhanced leaf area and grain yield per plant, whereas foliar application of aspirin, particularly at 20 g L⁻¹, produced the greatest improvement in leaf area and total plant yield. However, aspirin had no significant effect on soil pH or relative chlorophyll content. Moreover, the two-way and three-way interactions among phosphorus, perlite, and aspirin produced the highest values for most of the studied traits

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