IMPACT OF POLLINATION AND FERTILIZATION ON SESAME PRODUCTION IN THE RECLAIMED LANDS , ISMAILIA GOVERNORATE , EGYPT

The research was conducted at the Agriculture Research Farm, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Suez Canal during the sesame growing seasons of 2011 and 2012. For the purpose of studying the impact of insect pollination and nitrogen fertilization on sesame production, the experiment was divided into 13 treatments of open pollination and non open pollination with three different levels of ammonium nitrate (N) and one level of seryalin as bio-fertilizer. Non open pollination treatments were covered before the start of flowering period with a perforated net bag to allow the air to pass through and to prevent insects from approaching the plants. Quantitative and qualitative parameters were measured as follows: number of capsules per plant, capsule weight, number of seeds per capsule, weight of 1000 seeds, germination rate, seedling vigour and oil content. Results clearly demonstrate that qualitative and quantitative parameters of sesame crop significantly increased with open pollination and with the increase of nitrogen fertilizer level up to 95 kg N/ha plus or minus seryalin in reclaimed sandy soils in Ismailia, Egypt.


Introduction
Sesame (Sesamum indicum L.), otherwise known as sesamum or benniseed, member of the family Pedaliaceae, is one of the most ancient oilseed crops known to mankind.Sesame plays an important role in human nutrition.Most of the sesame seeds are used for oil extraction and the rest are used for edible purposes (El Khier et al., 2008).

Material and Methods
This experiment was carried out at the Experimental farm, Faculty of Agriculture, Suez Canal University, Ismailia, Egypt.Sesame crop was sown on May 31, 2011 and June 04, 2012.Local cultural practices were used during the time of experiments except the studied treatments.The land used measuring about 1/4 ha was divided into 39 plots of 8 × 2.4 mP P each, six rows in each plot with 40 cmP P spacing betweenP P rows and 30 cm between plants.Seeds of sesame cultivar 'Shandawil 3' were purchased from the Agriculture Research Center, Giza.These seeds were treated with Rizolex -T (3 g/kg seeds) before planting to prevent rot infection.For the purpose of studying the impact of insect pollination and nitrogen fertilization on sesame production, the experiment was laid out in Randomized Block Design (RBD) with thirteen treatments, replicated thrice.Plot size was 8 × 2.4 m, and spacing was 30 × 40 cm.The treatment details are as follows: T 1 = Open pollination without nitrogen (control); T 2 = Open pollination with 47.5 kg N/ha; T 3 = Open pollination with 95 kg N/ha; T 4 = Open pollination with 152.5 kg N/ha; T 5 = Open pollination with 47.5 kg N/ha + seryalin; The experiment was divided into 13 treatments of open pollination and non open pollination with three different levels of ammonium nitrate (N) and one level of seryalin as bio-fertilizer.Normal agricultural practices were applied from preparing of the seed bed until the harvest.The plants were grown under insecticide free conditions until harvesting in both growing seasons.The biofertilizer (seryalin) consisting of Ozoseyrloum bacteria was purchased from the Center of Fertilizers and Algae, Agriculture Research Center, Giza.It was added once during the farming, while ammonium nitrate (33.5% N) was added three times in equal doses as follows: (right after thinning, 15 days after thinning and 30 days after thinning).
For the purpose of studying the effect of different pollinators on enhancing the productivity and quality of sesame seeds, the flowers of plants in treatments from T 8 to T 13 (non open pollination) were covered before the start of flowering period by a perforated net bag to allow the air to pass through and to prevent insect pollination.Ten plants from each replicate were covered for each treatment.
Quantitative and qualitative parameters were measured as follows: capsule weight, number of seeds in each capsule, weight of 1000 seeds, germination percentage, seedling vigour and oil percentage (Dhurve, 2008).
Quantitative parameters studied were as follows: -Number of capsules per plant was measured on 25 randomly labeled plants from each treatment.
-Capsule weight (g) was measured on 25 randomly labeled capsules from each treatment by using an electronic scale.
-Number of seeds per capsule was counted on 10 randomly selected plants per treatment.
-Thousand seed weight (g) was determined by weighing 1000 dried seeds drawn randomly from each treatment using an electronic scale and replicated 4 times for each treatment.
-Seed yield per plant.At harvest, the capsules of ten plants in each treatment were removed and recorded.The seeds were separated and weight was measured using an electronic scale, and it was expressed in grams per plant.
Qualitative parameters studied were as follows: -Germination percentage.Hundred seeds obtained from each treatment were taken and placed on germination paper in germination chamber at the temperature of 27°C and the relative humidity of 80%.The germination count was made 5 days after incubation.The germination percentage was expressed based on the number of seedlings obtained in the test out of total seed yield.This test was replicated four times.
-Seedling vigour.For evaluating the vigour of seedling, twenty five seedlings were taken from each treatment and the length of shoot and root was measured, when the first set of true leaves was visible.
-Oil percentage.Dried seeds were ground for extraction using the Soxhlet method.50 g of ground seeds of each treatment were placed into a cellulose paper cone and extracted using light petroleum ether in a Soxhlet extractor for 8 h (Pena et al., 1992).Each treatment was replicated four times.The oil was recovered by evaporating the solvent using a rotary vacuum evaporator and the percentage of oil content was calculated.
Data obtained from quantitative and qualitative parameters were statistically analyzed through ANOVA (SAS Institute, 2002).When F-test was significant, means were separated using Tukey's honestly significant difference (HSD) test at the 0.05 level of significance.

Results and Discussion
The results in Table 2 showed the quantitative parameters that were measured in 13 different treatments.Data showed significant differences between the studied treatments in all quantitative parameters (number of capsules per plant, capsule weight, number of seeds per capsule, weight of 1000 seeds and seed yield per plant).Similarly, the results in Table 2 showed that the best level of N fertilization in non open pollination treatments was 95 kg N/ha + seryalin (T 12 ), followed by 95 kg N/ha (T 9 ), 47.5 kg N/ha + seryalin (T 11 ), and 47.5 kg N/ha (T 8 ).In addition, the results in Table 3 showed that 95 kg N/ha + seryalin (T 12 ) was the best level of fertilization in non open pollination treatments.It was followed by 95 kg N/ha (T 9 ), 47.5 kg N/ha + seryalin (T 11 ), and 47.5 kg N/ha (T 8 ).The results in Table 4 showed the qualitative parameters measured in all 13 treatments in the growing season of 2011.Germination percent recorded the highest value in T 6 treatment (open pollination with 95 kg N/ha + seryalin).Data showed that seedling vigour (shoot length and root length) had a high significant value in T 6 .Also, oil content percentage recorded the highest values in treatments T 6 and T 7 .T 12 treatment (non open pollination with 95kg N/ha + seryalin) had a more significant effect on seedling vigour than the other non open pollination treatments from T 8 to T 13 .In this treatment shoot length was 7.24 cm and root length was 9.62 cm.The same trend was found in Table 5 for the growing season of 2012.Germination percent had a high value in treatment T 6 (open pollination with 95 kg N/ha + seryalin).Also, seedling vigour (shoot length and root length) had the highest value in T 6 treatment.
Oil percent was significantly higher in T 6 and T 7 than in the rest of treatments.The results in Table 5 showed that T 12 (non open pollination with 95 kg N/ha + seryalin) had a significant effect on seedling vigour than the rest of non open pollination treatments from T 8 to T 13 .There are very few studies conducted to access yield increment and impact of insect pollination on sesame crop in Egypt.But, it is clear that insect pollination plays a vital role in producing high yield due to their service in crop pollination.Importance of insects visiting flowers and pollination has been recognized in various crops in many countries (Chandrashekar, 2005;Pattel, 2007;Dhurve, 2008;Sajjad et al., 2009;Adamson, 2011;Mahmoud, 2012;Kamel et al., 2013).Results revealed that sesame plants exposed to insect visits had a significant better quantity and quality of yield than plants from which insects were excluded during the two successive seasons of the study.Although some crops such as sesame can produce seed without bee pollination, presence of pollinators is important to increase yields, and hence, food security and income.Similarly, bee pollination is essential for reproduction in other crops.
In the present study, there was a significant increase in the quantity and quality of parameters in all treatments of open pollination field through 2011 and 2012 years.Also, pollination improved seed germination and seedling vigour.Germination is one of the most important stages because if there is a poor stand, no subsequent farmer action or weather condition can produce a high yield.The seedling stage is the most vulnerable stage to perils.At the beginning of the stage, leaf eating insects can destroy the plants, but towards the end, the plants can usually overcome the damage (Langham, 2007).The results obtained from the present study were close in agreement with the results of Cirnu et al. (1987), obtained in Romania.They reported that when plants from greenhouses were isolated from honeybees, there was 50-59% of fruit set compared to more than 80% of fruit set when honeybees were present, and the final yield was 107% higher.
In view of the increased cost of chemical fertilizers in recent years, the efficient use of fertilizers in combination with organic sources in crop production has become imperative.Balanced fertilization with organic sources and fertilizer would go a long way in maximizing production per unit area, without affecting the soil fertility and productivity.In the present investigation, the application of three levels of nitrogen (47.5, 95, and 152.5 kg in the form of ammonium nitrate and three levels of the previous doses with seryalin produced a significant increase in the quantity and quality of parameters in all treatments of open pollination than in non open pollination field through 2011 and 2012.Results showed a significant increase in number of capsules per plant, capsule weight, number of seeds per capsule, thousand seeds weight and seed yield per plant in comparison with the control in both growing seasons (Tables 2 and 3).
Data showed that the seed yield was increased with the application of nitrogen at the level of 95 kg/ha in sesame crop.This result was consistent with those obtained by Deshmukh et al. (2002) and Imayavaramban et al. (2002).The application of the recommended dose of nitrogen produced significantly higher seed yield comparing to the control.The differences in seed yield could be related to the differences in the number of capsules per plant, number of seeds per capsule and seed weight (Tables 2 and 3).Also, results demonstrated a significant increase of the percentage in qualitative parameters in the growing season of 2011.In T 6 , shoot length was increased by 10.3%, root length by 16.2% and oil content by 4.48%.Also, in T 5 shoot length was increased by 1.2%, root length by 11.2% and oil content by 3.58%.Shoot length of T 3 was increased by 0.68%, root length by 7.2% and oil content by 0.89%.Shoot length in T 2 was increased by 0.12%, root length by 4.1% and oil content by 0.89% comparing to the control (T 1 ).No positive effect on the germination percent was observed in the growing season of 2011.The similar trend was observed in the growing season of 2012 except for the recorded significant differences of treatments in germination percentage.Germination rate in T 6 was increased by 5.2%, shoot length by 21.8%, root length by 15.2% and oil content by 2.66%.Germination rate in T 5 was increased by 1.09%, shoot length by 14.3%, root length by 12.9% and oil content by 0.44%.Germination rate in T 3 was increased by 2.46%, shoot length by 10.6%, and root length by 8.4%.Germination rate in T 2 was increased by 3.8%, length by 5.1%, root length by 3.9% and oil content by 0.44% in comparison with the control (T 1 ).The increase in germination percentage was obviously attributed to the increased bee visitation to crop during the flowering period.These findings are in line with the results of Kalmath and Sattigi (2005) who observed the highest germination percent in onion seeds obtained from plot visited by many species of bees.
The highest seed yield obtained in open pollination treatments with 95 kg N/ha plus or minus seryalin was supported by the number of capsules per plant.The highest seed yield was produced due to favorable growth, nitrogen nutrient uptake, higher number of seeds per capsule, and heavier seeds.Noorka et al. (2011) stated that increasing nitrogen fertilizer level significantly increased sesame plant height, fruiting zone length, height of the first fruiting branch, number of branches and capsules per plant, 1000 seed weight, seed weight per plant, seed oil content, and seed and oil yields per hectare.

Conclusion
The findings of this study indicated that even the application of open pollination and nitrogen at the level up to 95 kg N/ha plus or minus seryalin in reclaimed sandy soils in Ismailia Governorate, Egypt increased the quantity and quality of sesame seed.Higher seed yield could be enhanced through integrated management, especially if this rate is applied in conjunction with other cultural practices such as crop rotation, inter-cropping, planting date manipulation, plant spacing and biological control.
Capsule weight of sesame crop in all open pollination treatments (from T 1 to T 7 ) had higher values than non open pollination treatments (from T 8 to T 13 ) in the 2011 season (F = 26.091;P ≤ 0.0000).The number of seeds per capsule showed higher values in open pollination than in non open pollination treatments (F = 88.241;P ≤ 0.0000).Thousand seed weight was higher in open pollination than in non open pollination treatments (F = 57.887;P ≤ 0.0000).Seed yield per plant was higher in open pollination than in non open pollination treatments (F = 659.054;P ≤ 0.0000).But, no effect was observed in the number of capsules per plant between open pollination and non open pollination treatments.The results in Table 2 showed that the best treatment was T 6 (open pollination with 95 kg N/ha + seryalin) .It produced 2.39 g of capsule weight, 67.1 seeds per capsule, 4.87 g of 1000 seeds weight and 36.90 g of seed yield per plant.It was followed by T 3 (open pollination with 95 kg N/ha), T 5 (open pollination with 47.5 kg N/ha + seryalin), and T 2 (open pollination with 47.5 kg N/ha).
Tukey's HSD (P = 0.05).Treatments: T 1 = Open pollination without nitrogen (control); T 2 = Open pollination with 47.5 kg N/ha; T 3 = Open pollination with 95 kg N/ha; T 4 = Open pollination with 152.5 kg N/ha; T 5 = Open pollination with 47.5 kg N/ha + seryalin; T 6 = Open pollination with 95 kg N/ha+ seryalin; T 7 = Open pollination with 152.5 kg N/ha + seryalin; T 8 = Non open pollination with 47.5 kg N/ha; T 9 = Non open pollination with 95 kg N/ha; T 10 = Non open pollination with 152.5 kg N/ha; T 11 = Non open pollination with 47.5 kg N/ha + seryalin; T 12 = Non open pollination with 95 kg N/ha + seryalin; T 13 = Non open pollination with 152.5 kg N/ha + seryalin.Data in Table 3 showed that capsule weight of sesame crop in all open pollination treatments (from T 1 to T 7 ) was significantly higher than in non open pollination treatments (from T 8 to T 13 ) in the 2012 season (F= 58.589; P ≤ 0.0000).The number of seeds per capsule showed a higher value in open pollination than in non open pollination treatments (F = 95.091;P ≤ 0.0000).Thousand seed weight was higher in open pollination than in non open pollination treatments (F = 57.887;P ≤ 0.0000).Seed yield per plant was higher in open pollination than in non open pollination treatments (F = 483.241;P ≤ 0.0000).But, no effect was observed on the number of capsules per plant between open pollination and non open pollination treatments.The results in Table 3 showed that the best treatment was T 6 (open pollination with 95 kg N/ha + seryalin).It was followed by T 3 (open pollination with 95 kg N /ha), T 5 (open pollination with 47.5 kg N/ha + seryalin), and T 2 (open pollination with 47.5 kg N/ha).

Table 1 .
Soil physico-chemical analysis of the experimental site during 2011 and 2012 cropping seasons.

Table 2 .
Influence of open pollination, non open pollination and nitrogen fertilization on number of capsules per plant, capsule weight, number of seeds per capsule, weight of 1000 seeds and seed yield per plant of sesame in the growing season of 2011.
* Means followed by the same letter in a column are not statistically different by

Table 3 .
Influence of open pollination, non open pollination and nitrogen fertilization on number of capsules per plant, capsule weight, number of seeds per capsule, weight of 1000 seeds and seed yield per plant of sesame in the growing season of 2012.
* Means followed by the same letter in a column are not statistically different by

Table 4 .
Influence of open pollination, non open pollination and nitrogen fertilization on germination percentage, seedling vigour and oil percent of sesame in the growing season of 2011.
* Means followed by the same letter in a column are not statistically different by

Table 5 .
Influence of open pollination, non open pollination and nitrogen fertilization on germination percentage, seedling vigour and oil percent of sesame in the growing season of 2012.Means followed by the same letter in a column are not statistically different by *