Optimizing Nitrogen Application in Root Vegetables from Their Growth, Biochemical and Antioxidant Response to Urea Fertilizer

Adnan Shakeel, Abrar Ahmad Khan, Hesham F. Alharby, Atif A. Bamagoos, Nadiyah M. Alabdallah and Khalid Rehman Hakeem
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Adnan Shakeel: Section of Environmental Botany, Faculty of Life Sciences, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh 202002, India
Abrar Ahmad Khan: Section of Environmental Botany, Faculty of Life Sciences, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh 202002, India
Hesham F. Alharby: Department of Biological Sciences, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah 21589, Saudi Arabia
Atif A. Bamagoos: Department of Biological Sciences, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah 21589, Saudi Arabia
Nadiyah M. Alabdallah: Department of Biology, College of Science, Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University, P.O. Box 383, Dammam 31113, Saudi Arabia
Khalid Rehman Hakeem: Department of Biological Sciences, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah 21589, Saudi Arabia

Agriculture, 2021, vol. 11, issue 8, 1-16

Abstract: Nitrogen is one of the most influencing inorganic nutrients for improved plant growth and yield in crops. However, excessive fertilizer application may have adverse impacts on the environment. Therefore, we strive to investigate in this work by examining the impact of different nitrogen (N) doses in the form of urea (46% N) on the growth, yield, photosynthetic pigment content, nitrate reductase activity, carbohydrate content, protein content, and antioxidant enzyme activity of the carrot and beetroot. A pot experiment was conducted under natural conditions with four nitrogen levels as basal treatment (Control = Nil N, U50 = 145.57 mg/kg N; U100 = 291.14 mg/kg N; U150 = 436.71 mg/kg N; U200 = 582.28 mg/kg N). Results found that U150 (436.71 mg/kg N) is the optimum N fertilizer dose at which significant ( p ≤ 0.05) improvements in all the growth, yield and biochemical attributes of carrot and beetroot were observed. However, the further increment in N doses did not affect the observed parameters and, therefore, excessive N level was observed beyond U150 = 436.71 mg/kg N. The principal component analysis presented significant correlations among the various parameters observed. Two principal components account for a total of 98.86% variance (PC1 = 92.96%; PC2 = 5.90%) in carrot and 99.2% variance (PC1 = 92.64; PC = 6.56) in beetroot of the overall data variability in plants supplemented with different N treatments.

Keywords: beetroot; carrot; fertilizer; nitrate reductase; yield (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q1 Q10 Q11 Q12 Q13 Q14 Q15 Q16 Q17 Q18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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