Mitigation of Carbonate-Induced Stress on Biochemical Properties of Soil and Vicia faba Growth Using Bio- and Organic Fertilizers

This study was carried out during the winter season of 2023/2024 as a pot experiment in a greenhouse to investigate the harmful effect of artificial calcium carbonate stress (S0: 1.90%, S1: 4.35%, S2: 6.81% and S3: 11.71%) as well as the efficiency of compost (C0: 0.00, C1: 0.75 and C2: 1.50%) and biofertilizers (B1: ARC-SWERI-501 Rhizobium leguminosarum sv. viciae and B2: ICARDA-441 Rhizobium leguminosarum sv. viciae) on soil chemical properties, faba bean (Vicia faba L. cv. 843) growth, nutrient uptake, biological activity and nodulation.The presence of increasing CaCO₃ concentrations had significant negative effects on all studied traits. Raising the level of compost additive decreased soil pH and significantly increased EC, OM and the availability of N, P and K compared to the control (C0) and the C2 treatment recorded the highest values ( 2.025 dS m⁻¹, 0.684%, 30.11 mg kg⁻¹, 4.781 mg kg⁻¹ and 187.14 mg kg⁻¹,respectively). Biofertilizers, especially B1, significantly enhanced soil biochemical properties and nutrient .The application of compost and biofertilizers together appeared a significant improvement in higher enzymatic activities (dehydrogenase, phosphatase and nitrogenase), nodules number, shoot dry weight, and macronutrient uptake. This highlights the value of integrated soil fertility management practices through organic and microbial amendments to reduce carbonate-induced stress to increase faba bean performance in the studied soils.