Attempts to Improve the Growth and Fruiting of Barhi Date-palms under Salinity Stress

Background and Objectives: Minia governorate in Egypt as an arid land area suffers from high salinity in both soil and water used for irrigation, which causes an obstacle to the growth of date palm which is one of the promising crops. The objective of this study was to alleviate the adverse effect of salinity on growth and fruiting of Barhi cultivar by using humic acid as a soil addition at rate 50 mL per palm with foliar application of selenium and silicon both of them at 25 and 50 ppm single or combined. Materials and Methods: This study was carried out during two successive seasons (2018 and 2019) by choosing of 21 palms seven treatments each treatment replicated 3 replicates, the cultivation space was 8 by 8 m apart and the age of palms was about 8 years, in private orchard located in desert of west Samalout district, Minia governorate, Egypt. Results: The using of humic with application of selenium and silicon at high concentrate was very effective in enhancing the vegetative growth characters like total chlorophylls and nutritional statute of leaves (N, P, K, Ca and Mg) compare to control (untreated trees). The application of silicon at 50 ppm with humic acid was better than the using of selenium at 50 ppm with humic acid and also better of using both of them individual at 25 ppm and very near to use both of elements at 25 ppm with humic. Conclusion: Application of both selenium and silicon at 50 ppm with Humic was the superior treatment in yield, bunch weight, fruit physical and chemical characters.