Thesis (M.Sc.) - Cairo University - Faculty of African Postgraduate Studies - Department of Natural Resources

Peanut is one of the unique cash and industrial crops, which may play a significant role in increasing cash income.The main factor that affects its production and quality is calcium fertilization, especially for its distinctive fruiting habit. Two field experiments were conducted at the Agricultural Experimental and Research Station, Faculty of Agriculture, Cairo University, Giza, Egypt during 2016 and 2017 seasons. A split plot design in Randomized Complete Block with three replications was used to study the response of three exotic peanut cultivars (two from Nigeria and one from USA) versus the Egyptian cultivar Giza-6 to three forms of calcium (Soil application in the form of Calcium Sulfate Dihydrate, Foliar application in the form of Calcium oxide, and soil and foliar applications combination), beside the control treatment of distilled water. The objectives of this study were to find out the best exotic cultivar(s) to grown under the Egyptian conditions, and determine the optimum calcium form for each one. The exotic cultivars are namely Samnut-23, Samnut-24 from Nigeria, and NC7 from USA. Results show that applying calcium fertilizers had a significant effect on all studied traits viz., number of plants per feddan, plant height, branches and pods number per plant, pods and seeds weight, plant dry weight, pops percentage, seed oil, free fatty acid and seed calcium percentages, biological, pod, seed and oil yields per feddan.The results also showed the superiority of the Egyptian cultivar Giza-6 with the possibility of introducing the American exotic cultivar NC7. Nigerian cultivars are also succeed under the Egyptian conditions, but the small size of the seeds may be a hindrance to local marketing

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