Impact of Agricultural Sulfur and Ground Yellow Corn Cob Amendments on Soil Nutrient Availability and Safflower (Carthamus Tinctorius L.) Growth
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.65150/EP-jnsrr/V2E10/2026-06Keywords:
Safflower, Sulfur, Maize, Nutrients, Soil.Abstract
The field experiment was conducted in one of the private farms in the city of Musayyib, during the winter season of 2023-2024, on the 11th day of 15th month in the Islamic lunar calendar on 11/15/2024 at an altitude of 32 meters above sea level at the latitude of 32° 40' 23" North and longitude of 44° 9' 41" East. The local variety of safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.) was cultivated to study the effect of adding agricultural sulfur and crushed yellow corn cobs on the availability of some nutrients and safflower growth indicators. This experiment was conducted with completely randomized block design (CRBD) with three replications and the results were analyzed using least significant difference (LSD) test at 5% probability. The study variables represented four levels of agricultural sulfur (0, 500, 1000, and 1500 kg ha⁻¹) and four levels of crushed yellow corn cobs (0, 20, 40, and 60 ton ha⁻¹), which were added to the soil before planting and during land preparation. The results were as follows: The treatment with agricultural sulfur at the (1500 kg ha⁻¹) level was significantly superior, giving the highest average values for available nitrogen, available phosphorus, available potassium, organic matter percentage, and safflower growth indicators was plant height, number of leaves, chlorophyll content, and weight. Dry matter content for the vegetative parts was 39.78 mg kg-1 soil, 14.45 mg kg-1 soil, 149.03 mg kg-1 soil, 8.85 g kg-1, 120.35 cm, 106.98 leaf plant-1 , 44.28 spad, and 51.28 g, respectively. The treatment with added crushed yellow corn kernels ( 40 ton ha-1) significantly increased the average values of the above parameters, and gave the highest averages of 35.70 mg kg-1 soil, 13.18 mg kg-1 soil, 146.08 mg kg-1 soil, 9.45 g kg-1, 115.00 cm, 102.70 leaf plant-1 , 41.40 spad, and 44.95 g. In other hand there was no difference between this treatment and the treatment (60 tons ha-1) any significant differences for all studied parameters.
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