Thesis (M.Sc.) - Cairo University - Faculty of Agriculture - Department of Agricultural Engineering

Stress on water availability and associated impacts among competing user groups in the region is increasing due to population growth, development, environmental & wildlife concerns, the persistence of below-normal precipitation, and water compact requirements on river Nile. The science of using hydroponically grown forage to provide cattle and sheep with sustenance is not a new one, but its application in Egypt has only recently begun in commercial operations these applications of forage sprout are a viable option to water conservation and reliable forage quality desired. The experiments were carried out during July 2014 in hydroponics unit in Qwisna, El-Minufia governorate. The objective of this experiment is to study the effect of different nozzles (fogger, mist and mini sprinklers), irrigation periods (30sec, 60sec and 90sec) for (2hr, 4hr and 6hr) respectively and grains density in the growth unit (tray 30*70 cm) is (692, 1253 and 1620) g on barely sprouts produced hydroponically. Measurements were taken for each production unit (Coefficient of uniformity, Distribution uniformity, and water use efficiency (g / L) sprout yield (g /kg grains), the length of the vegetative (cm), root length (cm), dry matter %, protein%, fiber%, carbohydrates%. The results showed that the fogger recorded the higher value of the coefficient uniformity and distribution uniformity as well as using fogger with irrigation interval (30 sec / 2h) with grain density (1620 g) per tray. Using fogger with irrigation interval (30 sec /2 h) and the density of grain (692 g) per tray gave the higher measurements of the productivity of the sprout yield (g / kg), and the length of vegetative (cm), and protein% and carbohydrates%. Finally, from the overall results it can be concluded that using 692 g of grains irrigated by fogger 30 sec/ 2hr recorded the highest most of tested parameters.

Issued also as CD