Page 199 - AJWEP-22-5

Asian Journal of Water, Environment and Pollution. Vol. 22, No. 5 (2025), pp. 193-203.
doi: 10.36922/AJWEP025170130

ORIGINAL RESEARCH ARTICLE

Effect of Al-Nibras and Kinglife nutrient solutions on
yield, agronomic traits, and soil nutrient availability in

two eggplant cultivars (Barcelona and Jawaher)

Ali Kareem Hussein* , Rasha Adil AlBakri , and Raghad Katran Hassan
Department of Soil and Water Technologies, Al-Mussaib Technical College, Al-Furat Al-Awsat Technical University,
Kufa, Najaf, Iraq
*Corresponding author: Ali Kareem Hussein (ali.kareem.tcm@atu.edu.iq)

Received: April 25, 2025; 1st revised: May 4, 2025; 2nd revised: June 2, 2025;
Accepted: June 6, 2025; Published online: August 4, 2025

Abstract: Foliar nutrition is considered an effective approach to enhance crop productivity and quality. In a field
experiment conducted at the College of Agriculture, University of Baghdad, during the 2023 – 2024 agricultural
season, the effects of two foliar nutrient solutions (Al-Nibras and Kinglife) on eggplant yield, its traits, and soil
nutrient availability were evaluated for two cultivars: Barcelona and Jawaher. The main plot was assigned to
cultivar type, the subplot to foliar fertilizer type, and the sub-subplot to spray concentration (0, 3, 6, and 9 g/L).
It was found that the Jawaher cultivar outperformed the Barcelona cultivar in terms of plant height, number of
branches, number of fruits per plant, and the contents of the soil molybdenum, iron, and zinc. In addition, the
foliar fertilizer Kinglife was consistently better than the Al-Nibras in all traits. All characteristics were markedly
affected by spraying concentration; particularly, the highest averages of plant height (100.39 cm), the number
of branches (7.68 branches/plant), the number of fruits (50.7 fruits/plant), and nutrients in the soil availability:
Mo (0.113 mg/kg), Fe (5.04 mg/kg), and Zn (1.68 mg/kg) were achieved using 9 g/L Al-Nibras/Kinglife. The
interaction between the Jawaher cultivar and Kinglife fertilizer had the most pronounced superiority in all studied
features, recording the highest values of 96.57 cm (plant height), 7.78 branches/plant, 50.6 fruits/plant, 0.169
mg/kg for molybdenum, 6.45 mg/kg for iron, and 2.73 mg/kg for zinc. These findings indicate that the choices
of cultivar, fertilizer, and spray concentration are important in increasing the yield of eggplant and enriching soil
nutrients.

Keywords: Cultivars; Foliar nutrients; Eggplant; Element availability; Fertilizer type

1. Introduction contributions to food systems, and its importance among
cultivated plants. Efficient tools and methods (e.g.,
Modern agricultural-based food is one of the most integrated nutrition application, nutritional solutions)
significant contributors to attaining food security, have been applied to enhance plant physiological
particularly due to the environmental pressure of an function, vegetative and flower growth, and brinjal
increasing population and limited agricultural produce. productivity and quality. The majority of countries
Eggplant (Solanum melongena L.) is a promising plant in the world, including those with severe climatic
for vegetable production due to its nutritional quality, conditions, are facing huge problems in a common

Volume 22 Issue 5 (2025) 193 doi: 10.36922/AJWEP025170130