Effect of Spraying Zinc and Adding Vermicompost Fertilizer on Wheat Plants Affected by Moisture Stress

Hamid, Ruwaida; Mohammed, Hussein; Abdel-Aziz, Heba; Haroun, Ghada

doi:Under indexing

Proceedings of International Conference on Applied Innovation in IT · 2026/06/12 · Vol. 14 · Issue 4 · pp. 843–852

Effect of Spraying Zinc and Adding Vermicompost Fertilizer on Wheat Plants Affected by Moisture Stress

Ruwaida Mohsen Hamid, Hussein Aziz Mohammed, Heba Mahmoud Mohammad Abdel-Aziz, Ghada Abd Allah El-Sherbeny and Samia Aly Haroun

📄 Download PDF DOI: Under indexing

Abstract

This field study was conducted during the fall season 2024-2025 in Diyala Governorate, Al-Muqdadiya District, Al-Wajihiya area, to investigate the effects and phenological adaptations to drought through zinc spraying and vermicompost application on wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) Edna variety. A split-split-plot arrangement within a randomized complete block design (RCBD) with three replications was used, and the least significant difference (LSD) test was applied at the 0.05 probability level. The treatments included three irrigation intervals (every 4, 8, and 12 days), two zinc concentrations (0 and 100 mg Zn L⁻¹), and three vermicompost levels (0, 250, and 500 g per 4 m²). The results showed that spraying zinc at 100 mg Zn L⁻¹ significantly increased proline and chlorophyll contents in leaves, plant height, number of grains per spike, and yield per plant compared with the untreated control. Vermicompost application significantly improved most studied traits. The 250 g per 4 m² level recorded higher values for proline concentration and plant height, while the 500 g per 4 m² level achieved the highest mean values for chlorophyll content, number of grains per spike, and plant yield. Proline concentration increased with decreasing soil moisture, with the highest values observed under irrigation every 12 days. Irrigation every 8 days produced superior chlorophyll content and plant height, while no significant difference was observed between irrigation every 4 and 8 days for yield per plant. Soil salinity decreased with increasing zinc spraying and vermicompost application, whereas salinity increased with reduced moisture levels, reaching the highest value (5.03 dS m⁻¹) under irrigation every 12 days. The improvement in plant characteristics is attributed to the role of zinc and vermicompost in enhancing water and nutrient uptake and improving plant adaptation to low soil moisture conditions.

Keywords

Zinc Moisture Tension Vermicompost Proline Acid Chlorophyll

References

K. Solanki, Effect of Foliar Spray of Urea and Zinc Sulphate on Growth, Yield and Quality of Guava (Psidium guajava L.) cv. Lucknow-49, M.Sc. dissertation, RVSKVV, Gwalior, India, 2017, [Online]. Available: https://krishikosh.egranth.ac.in/server/api/core/bitstreams/4eefab9c-881d-4092-939c-fd2a95636d34/content.
N. Gupta and S. K. Thind, “Improving photosynthetic performance of bread wheat under field drought stress by foliar-applied glycine betaine,” J. Agric. Sci. Technol., vol. 17, pp. 75-86, 2015, [Online]. Available: https://jast.modares.ac.ir/article_15678.html.
O. K. Al-Mafargy, H. A. Mohammed, and D. G. Omar, “The effect of spraying zinc and salicylic acid and their combination on growth and yield of cherry tomato plants,” Plant Arch., vol. 20, no. 1, pp. 2349-2354, 2020.
C. Devi and M. Khwairakpam, “Bioconversion of Lantana camara by vermicomposting with two different earthworm species,” Bioresour. Technol., vol. 296, Art. no. 122308, 2020, [Online]. Available: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2019.122308.
C. Patanè, S. L. Cosentino, D. Romano, and S. Toscano, “Relative water content, proline, and antioxidant enzymes in leaves of long shelf-life tomatoes under drought stress and rewatering,” Plants, vol. 11, no. 22, Art. no. 3045, 2022, [Online]. Available: https://doi.org/10.3390/plants11223045.
D. L. Sparks, A. L. Page, P. A. Helmke, and R. H. Loeppert, Eds., Methods of Soil Analysis, Part 3: Chemical Methods. Hoboken, NJ, USA: John Wiley & Sons, 2020.
M. Beniwal, S. Mishra, and V. Bahadur, “Effect of foliar application of nano urea, boron and zinc sulphate on growth, fruit yield and quality of strawberry (Fragaria × ananassa Duch.) cv. Winter Dawn,” J. Adv. Biol. Biotechnol., vol. 27, no. 6, pp. 725-735, 2024, [Online]. Available: https://doi.org/10.9734/jabb/2024/v27i6887.
Y. Gao, H. Yu, X. Liu, H. Lin, and L. Lu, “Mechanisms involved in the positive effects of high zinc exposure on growth of Sedum alfredii,” Plant Soil, 2024.
S. Zhi-Wei, S. Tao, D. Wen-Jing, and W. Jing, “Investigation of rice straw and kitchen waste degradation through vermicomposting,” J. Environ. Manage., vol. 243, pp. 269-272, 2019, [Online]. Available: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2019.04.126.
P. Venkatachalam, N. Priyanka, K. Manikandan, I. Ganeshbabu, P. Indiraarulselvi, N. Geetha, K. Muralikrishna, R. C. Bhattacharya, M. Tiwari, N. J. P. P. Sharma, and S. V. Sahi, “Enhanced plant growth promoting role of phycomolecules coated zinc oxide nanoparticles with P supplementation in cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.),” Plant Physiol. Biochem., vol. 110, pp. 118-127, 2017, [Online]. Available: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.plaphy.2016.09.004.
V. Nandal and M. Solanki, “The Zn as a vital micronutrient in plants,” J. Microbiol. Biotechnol. Food Sci., vol. 11, no. 3, Art. no. e4026, 2021.
A. A. A. Al-Abbasi, N. S. Abrahium, and H. A. Mohammed, “Effect of spraying zinc and ascorbic acid on some antioxidants of maize (Zea mays L.) under heat shock,” IOP Conf. Ser.: Earth Environ. Sci., vol. 1225, no. 1, Art. no. 012073, 2023, [Online]. Available: https://doi.org/10.1088/1755-1315/1225/1/012073.
K. Kitila and M. Workina, “Effect of integrated application of vermicompost and inorganic fertilizer on yield of bread wheat,” Int. J. Environ. Chem., vol. 7, no. 2, pp. 29-37, 2023, [Online]. Available: https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijec.20230702.11.
A. B. A. El-Mouhamady, M. M. El-Hawary, and M. A. F. Habouh, “Transgenic wheat for drought stress tolerance: A review,” Middle East J., vol. 12, no. 1, pp. 77-94, 2023.
M. Moustafa-Farag, A. Mahmoud, M. B. Arnao, M. S. Sheteiwy, M. Dafea, M. Soltan, A. Elkelish, M. Hasanuzzaman, and S. Ai, “Melatonin-induced water stress tolerance in plants: Recent advances,” Antioxidants, vol. 9, no. 9, Art. no. 809, 2020, [Online]. Available: https://doi.org/10.3390/antiox9090809.
A. Ahmad, Z. Aslam, R. N. Abbas, K. Belliturk, S. Hussain, S. Hussain, M. Ahmad, U. Zulfiqar, I. M. Moussa, and M. S. Elshikh, “Enhancing wheat crop resilience to drought stress through cellulolytic microbe-enriched cow dung vermicompost,” ACS Omega, vol. 9, no. 2, pp. 2123-2133, 2024, [Online]. Available: https://doi.org/10.1021/acsomega.3c04402.
D. Singh, A. Bahadur, A. K. Singh, H. K. Singh, S. Yadav, and D. R. Singh, “Effect of zinc and boron foliar application on growth, biomass production and yields of spring-summer okra,” J. AgriSearch, vol. 9, no. 1, pp. 46-49, 2022, [Online]. Available: https://doi.org/10.21921/jas.v9i01.9892.
S. Adhikary, “Vermicompost, the story of organic gold: A review,” Agric. Sci., vol. 3, pp. 905-917, 2012.
H. Athokpam, S. H. Wani, I. Sarangthem, and N. A. Singh, “Effects of vermicompost and boron on tomato (Solanum lycopersicum cv. Pusa Ruby) flowering, fruit ripening, yield and soil fertility in acid soils,” Int. J. Agric. Environ. Biotechnol., vol. 9, no. 5, pp. 847-853, 2016, [Online]. Available: https://doi.org/10.5958/2230-732X.2016.00109.1.
K. Kitila and M. Workina, “Effect of Integrated Application of Vermicompost and Inorganic Fertilizer on Yield and Yield Components of Bread Wheat in Shashemene District of West Arsi Zone, Ethiopia,” Int. J. Environ. Chem., vol. 7, no. 2, pp. 29-37, 2023, [Online]. Available: https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijec.20230702.11.