Study the Effect of Organic Fertilizer, Conventional and Nano Compound Fertilizers, and Sorghum on Some Growth Traits of Bitter Orange (Citrus aurantium L.) Seedlings

• 1Marft Wahab Haraf 2Prof. Dr. Basem Rahem Bader

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     The research problem lies in the limited availability of information concerning the combined effect of organic fertilizer, conventional compound fertilizer, nano-fertilizer, and sorghum extract on the growth and physiological performance of bitter orange (Citrus aurantium L.) seedlings under saline soil conditions. In particular, there is insufficient knowledge regarding the interaction among these factors and their role in reducing the adverse effects of salinity stress on seedling growth and development. compound, nano-fertilizers, and white sorghum intercropping on the growth of bitter orange seedlings and the interaction between fertilizer type and intercropping under saline or low-fertility soil conditions. The experiment included adding of organic fertilizer (buffalo manure) at three levels: 0, 1.413 kg plant⁻¹, and 1.413 kg organic fertilizer + 5 g nano-fertilizer per plant. The organic fertilizer was applied in a single dose.The chemical fertilizer NPK (20-20-20) was applied at three levels: 0, 28.26 g plant⁻¹, and 28.26 g compound fertilizer + 5 g nano-fertilizer per plant, which was applied in three times: the first after transplanting, the second 45 days after the first, and the third 45 days after the second, while The third factor was white sorghum intercropping at two levels (A1: sorghum cultivation, A2: without cultivation. A factorial experiment was conducted according to a Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with three replications. Means were compared using Duncan’s Multiple Range Test at a 0.05 probability level. The results showed that the application of organic fertilizer, conventional compound fertilizer, nano-fertilizer, and sorghum extract significantly improved the vegetative growth and physiological characteristics of bitter orange seedlings under saline conditions. The best treatment recorded the highest values for plant height, stem diameter, number of leaves, leaf area, and chlorophyll content, with percentage increases compared to the control treatment reaching significant levels. In addition, significant interaction effects among the studied factors were observed, indicating that the combined application of these treatments was more effective in reducing the adverse effects of salinity stress and enhancing seedling growth than the individual applications

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