Journal of Environmental Treatment Techniques 2014, Volume 2, Issue 4, Pages: 184-190 184 Management strategy for improving growth and mineral status of Moringa grown under water stress conditions Mohamed Moursy Hussein 1 , Camilia Youssef El-Dewiny 2 and Medhat Mekhail Tawfik 3 1- Water Relation and Field Irrigation Dept. National Research Centre, Dokki ,Giza Egypt. 2- Soil & Water Use Dept. National Research Centre, Dokki ,Giza Egypt. 3- Field Crops Research Dept. National Research Centre, Dokki ,Giza Egypt. Received: 27/09/2014 Accepted: 14/11/2014 Published: 30/11/2014 Abstract Water scarcity and drought are the main constraints of crop production. Many technologies have been developed to cope with this environmental problem. So improve crop management under limited amount of available water is a measure issue to maximize the return by unit of water (water productivity). To achieve the aforementioned objectives, a pot experiment was conducted in the greenhouse of the National Research Centre at summer season of 2013 to evaluate the effect of foliar application of potassium sulphate (K 2 SO 4 ), mono potassium phosphate (KHPO 4 ) and ferrous sulphate (Fe SO 4 ) at the rate of 1% in addition to distilled water as a control treatment. on growth, and mineral status of Moringa plants grown under different water regimes (irrigation after depletion of 40 % of the maximum water holding capacity of the soil (W.H.C.) i.e. normal water supply, 60 % of (W.H.C.) i.e. moderate soil moisture stress and 80 % of (W.H.C.) i.e. severe moisture stress. However, severe moisture stress cause depression in growth characters i.e. plant height, number of branches, dry weight of stem, leaves, top and whole plant. The highest dry weight of root, stem, leaves, top and whole plant were obtained by irrigation after depletion of 40 % available soil moisture. On the other hand, the dry weight of the root and shoot/root ratio was positively responded with the decreased in availability of moisture before irrigation. Application of foliar fertilizers enhanced all the vegetative growth characters of Moringa plants i.e. plant height, number of branches, root, and stem, leaves and whole plant fresh weight. Data also showed that MKP treatment surpass all the other foliar treatments (except for top/root ratio) which were recorded under Fe treatment. The lowest values were recorded in plants sprayed with distilled water. Moreover, Increasing the percentage of moisture depletion before irrigation, significantly decreased the percentage of phosphorus, potassium and magnesium in Moringa plants. On the contrary water stress treatments significantly increase the content of N, Ca and Na. Application of foliar fertilizers enhancing the content of N, P, K and Mg. Keywords: Moringa, Water stress, Foliar fertilization, Growth, Mineral status. 1 Introduction 1 Moringa oleifera L., belonging to the Moringaceae family, consists of only one genus (Moringa) and fourteen recognized species. It is a native plant from North of India and it has been cultivated in several tropical countries. Moringa is a multiple-use plant but it has been more intensely used in the industry, medicine and in the feeding human and animal as protein source [1]. Moringa (Moringa oleifera) trees have been used to combat malnutrition, especially among infants and nursing mothers. Leaves can be eaten fresh, cooked or stored as dry powder for many months without refrigeration, and reportedly without loss of nutritional value. Moringa is especially promising as a food source in the tropics because the tree is in full leaf at the end of the dry season when other foods are typically scarce [2]. Moringa leaves contain more vitamin A than carrots, more calcium than milk, more iron than spinach, more Corresponding author: Medhat Mekhail Tawfik, Field Crops Research Dept. National Research Centre, Dokki, Giza Egypt. Email: medhatnrc@hotmail.com. vitamin C than oranges, and more potassium than bananas, and that the protein quality of Moringa leaves rivals that of milk and egg [3]. In addition more than its use in water purification, biofuel and pesticides [4]. Globally as well as locally, scarcity of land and water for agriculture facing crop yields decline is of major concern to feed ever increasing population. Water stress affects plants growth and productivity in many ways such as effect on germination [5], cell growth is one of the most drought-sensitive physiological processes due to reduction in turger pressure [6], photosynthesis, carbohydrate and protein building [7], water adjustment and mineral [8] absorption and oxidative defense [9 & 10]. Potassium is an important macronutrients and the most abundant cation in higher plants. Potassium is the target of many researches mainly because it is essential for enzymes activation, protein synthesis and photosynthesis [11 & 12], and it mediates osmoregulation during cell expansion, stomatal movements and tropism. Furthermore, K is necessary for phloem solute transport and for the maintenance of catain: anion balance in the cytozol as well as in the vacuole. K supply from soil can be rate limiting Journal web link: http://www.jett.dormaj.com Environ. Treat. Tech. ISSN: 2309-1185