Journal of food science and technology(Iran)

Journal of food science and technology(Iran)

Impact of Bacterial Fertilization and Foliar Growmore Application on the Growth Parameters of Pomegranate 'Wonderful' Saplings

Document Type : Original Article

Authors
Zahraa I K Aljuboury
Shyamaa Salman Neamah
Department of Horticulture and Landscape, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Kufa, Najaf-54001, Iraq
10.48311/fsct.2026.119057.83038
Abstract
This study was conducted to evaluate the effect of the biofertilizer Azospirillum brasilense and the chemical foliar fertilizer Grow More, individually and in combination, on improving some vegetative growth characteristics of pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) Wonderful saplings under the Najaf Governorate environmental conditions. The experiment was RCBD factorial included 3 levels of biofertilizer and the commercial balanced Growmore foliar fertilizer, to study the effect of each and their interaction on a number of vegetative growth indicators. The findings showed that the treatments differently affected studied growth parameters namely the increase in sapling height, number of leaves, stem diameter, number of branches, leaf area, and total leaf chlorophyll content. The soil applied biofertilizer A. brasilense resulted in significantly higher values in most traits especially at 12 ml seedling⁻¹ compared to the control. Similar but lower effectiveness was detected in the individual treatments with foliar balanced Growmore where the best results were obtained at 300 mg L-1. Overall findings indicate that the highest percentage increase was in the interaction treatment of 12 ml sapling-1 bacterial fertilizer and 300 ml L-1 Growmore, which achieved an increase over the control in sapling height by 120%, in the number of leaves by 135%, and in stem diameter by 180%. The number of branches also increased from less than 7 to 35 branches/seedling, and the leaf area and leaf chlorophyll content recorded an increase over the control by 189% and 200% respectively.
Keywords
Azospirillum
fruit trees
organo-fertilization
sustainable agriculture
Subjects
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