Effects of Sugar Beet Residual and Vinasse on Soil Properties and Wheat Productivity under Calcareous Soil Conditions

Vinasse and sugar beet residual are economically valued by-products of the sugar industry that can be used as soil amendment and plant biostimulator for crop production because of their high organic matter content and essential nutrients. A field experiment was conducted in the at El-Nubaria Agricultural Research Station, Egypt, during two successive winter seasons (2022-2023 and 2023-2024) to evaluate the sugar beet residual and vinasse applications effectiveness on the soil organic matter, nutrient availability, as well as wheat productivity under the low-productivity calcareous soil conditions. A split-plot design was used; sugar beet residual as soil application at (B0) 0 ton/fed, (B1) 3 ton/fed, and (B2) 6 ton/fed were applied to the main plots. The sub-main plots were assigned to four concentrations of diluted vinasse, control (V0), 10% vinasse (V1), 20% vinasse (V2), and 30% vinasse (V3), that were sprayed three times at 45, 60 and 90 days from sowing. The results revealed that a significant positive effect of treatments either individually or together outperformed the control (untreated plots). B2 treatment significantly augmented the soil organic matter by 25% that induced both of wheat biological and grain yield by 58 and 90% respectively over the control treatments. The combined treatment (B2V3) resulted in an increase in plant height (122 cm), number of spikes/m2 (738.67), grain yield (3.40 ton/fed), biological yield (14.18 ton/fed), and weight of 1000 grains (65.08 g). The highest content of N, P, K , Fe, Mn, Zn and protein in wheat grain were also observed for B2V3 treatment.