Impact of Spraying Lithovit and Different Irrigation Levels on Growth, Blooming and Fruit Setting of Manzanello Olive (Olea Europaea L.) Cultivar

Water stress is one of the main challenges which constrain olive cultivation in reclaimed area in Egypt. It can impair the growth and production performance of olives. Many investigations recommended spraying Lithovit to reduce the effect of water stress. We believe that we have designed an innovative solution to follow up the effect of spraying Lithovit (Ca CO3 & Mg CO3) on olive trees which exposure to different irrigation levels. Four concentrations of Lithovit were sprayed on olive (Olea europaea var. Manzanello) trees (0, 2, 4 and 6 g/L) under three irrigation levels (50, 75 and 100% of evapotranspiration for crop “ETc”) during 2017, 2018 seasons. Strong evidence of irrigation at 75% of ETc was found on olive growth, blooming and fruit setting. It was the best irrigation level to balance between vegetative growth and blooming. Moreover, there were significant variations between spraying Lithovit at 2 g/L and other concentrations on Blooming and fruit setting. Furthermore, the interaction between spraying Lithovit and irrigation levels cleared that spraying Lithovit at 2g/L and irrigation at 75% of ETc enhanced blooming and fruit setting. On the other hand irrigation at 100% of ETc with spraying Lithovit at 2g/L improved the vegetative characteristics.