EFFECT OF IRRIGATION INTERVALS AND FOLIAR SPRAYING TREATMENTS ON GROWTH AND YIELD OF SOME RICE CULTIVARS

The field experiments were carried out at a Farm in El-Abhar Village, El-Hamoul Center, Kafr El-Sheikh Governorate, during 2011 and 2012 seasons to determine the effect of irrigation intervals (irrigation every 2, 4 and 8 days) and foliar spraying treatments (without foliar spraying, foliar spraying with Flowering-Spring fertilizer, Tecamin-Max fertilizer, Potassium- Sulphate and Ascorbic-Acid) on growth, yield and its attributes of some rice cultivars (IET 1444, Giza 177 and Giza 178). Each irrigation intervals was performed in separate experiment. Every experiment of irrigation intervals was carried out in strip plot design with three replications. The results showed that normal irrigation schedule every 2 days (control treatment) associated with significant increases in all studied characters and resulted in the highest values in both seasons. IET 1444 cultivar significantly superior the two local cultivars Giza 177 and Giza 178 and resulted in the highest values of most studied characters. Foliar spraying rice plants with Tecamin max fertilizer surpassed other studied foliar spraying treatments and resulted in the highest values of all studied characters in both seasons. This treatment followed by spraying with Flowering spring fertilizer without significant differences between them in most characters, then potassium sulphate and then ascorbic acid in both seasons. It can be concluded that, irrigated IET 1444 rice cultivar every 6 days and foliar spayed with Tecamin max or Flowering spring fertilizers could be recommend to raise productivity and save irrigation water and irrigated Giza 178 and Giza 177 rice cultivars every 2 days and foliar spayed with Tecamin max or Flowering spring fertilizers to maximize productivity under the environmental conditions of El-Hamoul district, Kafr El-Sheikh Governorate.