Bio and Organic Fertilizers as an Alternative to Conventional Mineral Source on Sesame (Sesamum indicum L.) Production and Oil Quality in Egypt

POSSIBILITIES of partial or complete substitution of mineral fertilizer via bio and organic fertilizers were evaluated for improving the characteristics of sesame seed yield and oil yield, also contributing to decrease environmental pollution. The two experiments were implemented in the two summer seasons of 2015 and 2016 at the Agricultural Experimental and Research Station, Faculty of Agriculture, Cairo University. The experimental design was a randomized complete block design with seven treatments. Sesame was tested under three types of fertilizers i.e., 33, 50, and 100% mineral, compost, and 100% bioformulations. Results revealed that the treatment of 100% compost attained the highest values of number of plants ha^-1 (119.80 thousands ha^-1), seed yield plant^-1 (15.37g), biological yield (5721.00kg ha^-1), also gave the highest significant values of seed yield (1544.00kg ha^-1) and oil yield (865.60kg ha^-1); however, the treatment of 100% bioformulations in combination with 50% mineral recorded maximum values of plant height (135.33cm), fruiting zone length (81.06cm), number of seeds plant^-1 (3880.68), seed index (4.61g) and produced a maximum significant value of number of capsules plant^-1 (77.06) in both seasons. While, the treatment of 100% bioformulations mixed with 50% compost attained the highest value of seed oil percentage (59.03%), whereas all treatments did not significant effect on the fatty acids composition when compared with the control treatment (100% mineral) in both seasons. It can be concluded that the mineral fertilizer was completely replaced via 100% compost and partially replaced by 100% bioformulations with 50% mineral recorded the best results in both seasons.