INTERACTIVE EFFECTS OF ZEOLITE AND DIFFERENT NITROGEN SOURCES ON YIELD AND QUALITY OF JEW’S MALLOW PLANT (Corchorus olitorius) AND SOME SOIL PROPERTIES

Only few papers focus on the role of zeolite in reducing environmental pollution resulting from excessive use of nitrogen fertilizers. So, a pot trial was performed to determine the impact of zeolite additions [Z0: without zeolite (control), Z1: 1% zeolite (equivalent to 100g/10kg soil) and Z2: 2% zeolite (equivalent to 200g/10kg soil)] and nitrogen fertilization [0.0, 50 and 100% of Nitrogen Recommended Dose (NRD) as ammonium sulfate, urea and ammonium nitrate] on Jew's mallow (Corchorus olitorius L.) plants and some soil properties. Growth parameters (foliage fresh and dry weights) and chemical composition ( N, P, K, chl.a, chl.b and carotene) at the first cut time, quality parameters ( phenol, VC, TSS and NO3) at the second cut time and seed characteristics ( No. of branches plant-1, No. of pods plant-1 and seeds weight) at the seed harvest stage were determined. The findings show that the highest values of all measured traits are recorded when jew's mallow plants grown in pots contained 2% zeolite (equivalent to 200g/10kg soil) and fertilized with 100% of NRD as ammonium sulfate, while the lowest values are realized when jew's mallow plants grown without both zeolite and N fertilizers. On the other hand, the combined treatment of 2% zeolite and 50% of NRD gives results better than treatment of 100% of NRD without zeolite. This trend is found with all studied N fertilizers. Also, soil properties i.e. CEC, porosity, available N and EC at seed harvest stage pronouncedly differ due to all investigated treatments.