Optimization of the Efficiency of Saline Irrigation Water by Addition of Hydrophilic Soil Conditioners to Enhance The Barely (Hordeum valgare L.) Productivity in Sandy Soil

This study aims to assess the efficiency of the low quality irrigation water mixed with Nile fresh water accompanied by the application of some hydrophilic soil conditioners to improve the barely crop productivity in sandy soil. The irrigation water used was five grades of salinity that are Nile water (NW) as the control, underground water (GW), agricultural drainage water (DW), mixed NW with GW (0.5:1 v/v ratio), and mixed NW with DW (0.5:1 v/v ratio). A greenhouse pots and two field experiments were carried out using the hydrophilic poly-acrylamide (PAC) and gelatin (G) polymers. The PAC was applied as received while the G was dissolved to prepare an aqueous solution mixed with either the K-silicate S powder (GKS mixture 1:10 g/g ratio) or with the air-dried water hyacinth powder WH (GWH mixture 1:10 g/g ratio) then left to dry. All treatments were arranged in a split-plot design with three replicates for each treatment. The main factor was the irrigation treatments (I) while the sub-factor was the applied hydrophilic conditioners (H). Barely grains (Hordeum valgare L.) were sown (winter seasons 2022/2023 and 2023/2024). In field experiment, the PAC and GKS have increased the grains yield by 76.8% and 60.2%, respectively (by NW) and 72.4% and 60.8%, respectively (by NW+DW). The NW+DW with or without the PAC treatment have significantly increased the N, P, and K uptake by the grains and straw. The studied treatments can be recommended to improve the barely plant yield under sandy soil conditions using saline irrigation water.