Improving Peanut Productivity Using Phosphorus Sources, Humic Substances, and Plant Growth-Promoting Rhizobacteria (PGPR) Under Sandy Soil Conditions

Abstract

A field experiment was conductedduring the summer season of 2022 to study the effect of two forms of phosphorus (super phosphate and rock phosphate), humic acids, and plant growth-promotingrhizobacteria(PGPR) on peanut yield (Arachishypogaea L.) cv. Giza 6. Data showed that humic acids, a mixture of superphosphate and rock phosphate, and PGPR especially those produce exopolysaccharides are crucial for the growth and yield of peanut plants. A superior increase in the effect of humic acids, followed by phosphorus applications on plant height, number of pods per plant, pod weight per plant, seed weight per plant, 100 pod weight, 100 seed weight, pods and seed yields, and shelling percentage was recorded. The co-inoculation with PGPR especiallythatproduces exopolysaccharides, can affect peanut yield and the abovementioned yield attributes and shelling percentage.Moreover, the application of humic substance resulted in significant increases in protein and oil content compared to untreated samples. Finally, the combination ofhumic acids,PGPR, and mixture of super phosphate and rock phosphate resulted in significant increases in all quality parameters of peanuts as compared to untreated ones.