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EFFECT OF SOME SALINITY AND FERTILIZATION TREATMENTS ON BERMUDA: A. VEGETATIVE GROWTH

H.A.E.I


INTRODUCTION
Bermudagrass (Cynodon dactylon (L.) belongs to Family Poaceae that act as a ground cover (Uddin and Juraimi, 2013), it is considered the main element of landscape. Also, it is a foundation part to play or rest, Bermudagrass is used very often on the fairways and tees of golf courses (Santos et al., 2008 andWu andAnderson, 2011).
Therefore, the aim of this research was to evaluate the effect of irrigation water salinity, mineral and biofertilization treatments and their interactions on the vegetative growth of bermudagrass.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
This study was undertaken at the private Farm, Bani Mazar District, Minia governorate. during the two seasons of 2020 and 2021 to investigate the effect of irrigation water salinity and mineral and/or biofertilization treatments, as well as, their interaction on the vegetative growth traits of bermudagrass (Cynodon dactylon, L.), grown in sandy soil.
The seeds of bermudagrass were obtained from Hamza Co., El-Giza, Egypt. The experiment was arranged in a complete randomized block design in a split-plot design with three replicates.
The main plots (A) included four levels of salinity i.e. 0.0, 3000, 6000 and 9000 ppm, of NaCl:CaCl2 at a rate of 1:1 w/w. While eight treatments of mineral NPK and/or biofertilizers, included control, mineral NPK at 100%, mineral NPK at 75%, effective microorganisms (EM), Azotobacter chroococcum bacteria (AC), mineral NPK at 75% + EM, mineral NPK at 75% + AC, and EM + AC occupied the subplots (B). Therefore, the interaction treatments (A × B) performed 32 treatments. Each replicate area was 10×10 m, such area was dug out to 30 cm depth and separated into the experimental unit (plot) 1.5 × 1.0 m, to prevent seepage, a 1.0 m between the main plot and 0.25 m between sub-plots, using layers of wood, then refilled with sandy soil plus compost at 10 ton/fed for all treatments (3.6 kg/unit area). Seeds of bermudagrass were sown by broadcasting method on April, 28 th for both growing seasons at the rate of 60 g/1.5 m 2 .
All assigned calcium superphosphate fertilizer was applied to the sandy soil during soil preparation for bermuda cultivation, while the amounts of N and K fertilizers were divided into three equal doses and were applied in monthly intervals pattern, starting on the second day of June then 2 nd July and 2 nd August in both seasons.
Fresh and active biofertilizer, Effective microorganisms containing lactic acid bacteria, photosynthetic bacteria and yeasts (EM) and A. chroococcum (AC) strain were obtained from Microbiology Department, Faculty of Agriculture, Mansoura University were sprayed by hand sprayer at the rate of 500 cm 3 /1.5 m 2 (each 1.0 ml containing 10 7 cells of bacteria) and (50 ml/1.5 m 2 ), respectively.
The first dose for EM and AC was applied on 9 th June, the second dose on 9 th July and the last spray was on 9 th August (after one week of the dose of mineral fertilizer), and then the plants were irrigated immediately.

Data recorded:
Covering density (%), plant height (cm), and fresh and dry weights of clipping (g) during the three cuts in both seasons.
The obtained results were tabulated and statistically analyzed according to MSTAT-C (1986), and LSD test at 5% was followed to compare the means of treatments.

Vegetative growth traits:
Covering density (%): Table (1), regardless of the treatments, showed that covering density (%) in the third cut was higher than either the first or the second cuts.

Data presented in
The treatments of 3000 and 6000 ppm irrigation water salinity significantly increased covering density (%) compared with the control treatment, while the high level of salinity (9000 ppm) decreased covering density (%) compared with the control treatment during the three cuts in both seasons.
All used seven treatments of mineral and/or biofertilizers significantly increased covering density (%) compared with the control during the three cuts, except in the 3 rd cut in both seasons. Among these treatments, mineral NPK 100%, followed by EM + AC, were the best without significant differences between them.
The superiority of mineral fertilization in increasing the covering density of bermudagrass was investigated by Manoly et al. (2008) At the same time, the role of biofertilization in enhancing covering density was emphasized by Yuojen (2015) and Ali et al. (2018)  The interaction treatments were significant for covering density during the three cuts in both seasons. The best interaction treatments that alleviated the harmful effects of the highest level of saline water (9000 ppm) were mineral NPK 100%, followed by EM + AC, then mineral NPK 75% + EM without significant differences between such three interaction treatments in the first and third cuts.

Plant height (cm):
Regardless of the treatments either in the main or sub-plots, the tallest plant was recorded in the first and second seasons during the third cut as shown in Table (2). There was a significant reduction in plant height in the first and second seasons during the three cuts when Cynodon dactylon was irrigated with salinity stress at 6000 and 9000 ppm compared with the low level (3000 ppm). The reduction was pronounced with the highest level of irrigation water salinity (9000 ppm) which produced the shortest plants during the three cuts in both seasons.
The negative impacts of irrigation water salinity on plant height were stated by many authors such as Adavi et al. (2006), Hameed and Ashraf (2008)  Data presented in Table (2) mentioned that mineral and/or biofertilization treatments gave a significant increase in bermuda plant height during the three cuts in both growing seasons, except the treatments of EM and AC in the 2 nd and 3 rd cuts during the first season, and the treatment of AC in the 3 rd cut in the second season as well as the treatments of mineral NPK 75%, EM and AC in the 2 nd cut during the second season. It is noticed that mineral NPK 100% and/or EM + AC recorded the tallest plants in both seasons. Such two superior treatments came in the first order, while NPK 75% + EM and mineral NPK 75% + AC came in the second order, mineral NPK 75%, EM and AC treatments came in the third order, and the control gave the shortest plants.
The role of NPK fertilization in improving plant height was also mentioned by Ammar (2018) Meanwhile, the increase in plant height due to biofertilizer deduced by Yuojen (2015) and Ali et al. (2018) on Cynodon dactylon L.
The interaction was significant for plant height. The interaction treatment of 9000 ppm with mineral NPK 100%, followed by EM + AC, then mineral NPK 75% + EM mitigated the stress of salinity.

Clipping fresh and dry weights (kg):
No matter what the treatments either in main or sub-plots, the heaviest clipping fresh and dry weights came from the 3 rd cut in both seasons as shown in Tables (3 and 4).
Data presented in Tables (3 and 4) stated that clipping fresh and dry weights were gradually decreased with the increase in salinity concentration during the three cuts in both seasons facing the low level (3000 ppm). Significant differences were detected between each two salinity water irrigation. At the same time the irrigation water salinity at 3000, followed by 6000 ppm increased the clipping fresh and dry weights than the control, while, 9000 ppm reduced the clipping fresh and dry weights facing the control.
The above-mentioned findings were in harmony with those reported by Al-Khalifah Concerning the effect of mineral and/or biofertilization treatments on clipping fresh and dry weights, with respect to mineral NPK 100% produced the maximum clipping fresh and dry weights in both seasons, followed by using biofertilization (EM + AC). The control treatments gave the lightest clipping fresh and dry weights in both seasons for the 1 st , 2 nd and 3 rd cuts. The other treatments gave intermediate values.
Concerning the impact of mineral NPK fertilization, our findings are in agreement with those indicated by Trenholm et al. (2000), Rodriguez et al. (2002), Snyder and Cisar (2005) Regarding the effect of biofertilizers, many researchers stated that biofertilizers enhanced plant fresh weight such as Yuojen (2015) and Ali et al. (2018) on Cynodon dactylon, L.
The interaction treatments were significant for clipping fresh and dry weights during the three cuts in both seasons. Generally, in both seasons during the three cuts, the heaviest weights (fresh or dry) were produced from mineral NPK 100% or EM + AC under 3000 ppm salinity. In addition, the best treatments that alleviated the harmful effects of the highest level of saline water (9000 ppm) were mineral NPK 100%, followed by EM + AC, then mineral NPK 75% + EM, without significant difference between such superior interaction treatments in the first cut for fresh weight.
The bermudagrass can tolerate moderate concentrations of salinity, however, the high concentrations reduce vegetative and root growth. Where, the high level of salinity resulted in osmotic stress (Berndt, 2007), reduced photosynthetic capacity, damage to photosynthetic systems by excessive energy, structural disorganization, or reduction in photochemical quenching (Flowers et al., 1985 andLee et al., 2004) and proline  Table 4. Effect of salinity concentration, mineral and biofertilization on clipping dry weight/unit (kg) of bermudagrass during three cuts in the two growing seasons (2020 and 2021). accumulation could add to the salinity tolerance through osmoregulation or by acting as carbon and nitrogen sink for stress recovery (Shahba et al., 2012).

Salinity concentrations (ppm) (
The positive effect of NPK fertilization on alleviating the harmful effects of salinity was: moderate N has improved tolerance and hastened recovery from injury (Trenholm et al., 2001).
Potassium aids in the uptake and movement of different nutrients within the plants, maintains osmotic pressure and is important in the metabolism and formation of carbohydrates and proteins (Bidwell, 1974). Potassium may enhance wear tolerance through the regulation of turgor potential (Trenholm et al., 2001). Potassium is important in improving the stress tolerance of turfgrasses and is essential to plant growth (Snyder and Cisar, 2000).
Biofertilizers also, increase plant growth and help to super pass the harmful effects of salinity stress. Azotobacter spp. fixing nitrogen (Jnawali et al., 2015), synthesizing auxins, cytokinins, and GA-like substances, and these growth materials are the primary substance controlling the enhanced growth of plants. In addition, there are various other facets of Azotobacter spp. prominent characteristics that enhance the tolerance index of the plant in a hostile environment (Ruzzi and Aroca, 2015). Using isolated salttolerant bacteria from different sources of saline could promote seedling growth under salinity stress (Siddique et al., 1997).
EM has several beneficial effective microorganisms that work together to produce N, and plant hormones and enhances plant physiological processes which are reflected to tolerate salinity stress (Cóndor_Golec et al., 2007). Also, EM produces substances that play the role of antioxidants (Mayer et al., 2010). dactylon l.) grown in different types of soil in response to salinity of irrigation water. Middle East J., 7 (3)