Tagelsir I.M. Idris, Abdelazim A. Khidir and Mohamed A.E. Haddad
As date palm culture is concentrated in fertile soils along the banks of the Nile in Sudan, date growers almost neglect dates’ fertilization. Related research efforts had been lacking. Complaints of yield decline were frequent in recent years. This broad base-line study was initiated to investigate the influence of single and combined fertilizer treatments on growth and yield of Barakawi, a dry date cultivar under the conditions of the Northern State, Sudan. In complete randomized block design with 5 replicates, N, P, S and Micro elements were tested singly and in combinations in two sites east of Dongola town. The combined treatment of N + P resulted in the most pronounced increments in foliage growth, fruit measures and total yield. The responses to this combination were better than the independent application of each. The result is of practical value as two-folds yield increases were obtained in both sites. Besides, increases gained in fruit measures are considered improvements as large fruits have higher market values. Further optimization studies are needed to develop fertilizer programs for date palms in Sudan.
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