Ali. S. Mueen1, Shathar A. Imran Alaamer2 and Salih K. Alwan Alsharifi3
1,2 Department of Plant Production Techniques, Al-Furat Al-Awsat Technical University, Najaf, Iraq
3 Department of Agricultural Machinery, Al-Qasim Green University, Al-Qasim, Iraq
Mueen, A. S., Alaamer, Sh. A. I. & Alsharifi, S. K. A. (2025). Effect of Agaricus mushroom spent residues on maize production under a drip irrigation system. Bulg. J. Agric. Sci., 31(6), 1098–1110
The compost (Agaricus mushroom spent residues) is used to avoid environmental pollution problems caused by chemical fertilizers while increasing soil fertility and raising the yellow corn crop production capacity. Compost, being a macronutrient, is considered one of the important components in combating nutritional deficiencies related to growth and yield traits. The present study aimed to evaluate a two-drainage subsurface drip irrigation system (SDIS- 8 and 10 l. h-1) in integration with five fertilizer levels (Com0- comparison, Com1-10, Com2-12, Com3-14, and Com4-16 tons.ha-1), carried out in 2022–23 at the Al-Musayyib Agriculture Directorate, Hilla City, Iraq. The study was conducted using a randomized complete block design (RCBD) with a split-plot arrangement, involving two factors and three replications. The results showed that dripper discharge for SDIS at 10 l/hr was significantly better than other dripper discharges for SDIS at 8 l/hr in all studied traits. The 10 l/hr-1 dripper discharge performed better in terms of parameters, water distribution uniformity, water use efficiency, plant height, chlorophyll ratio, cob seed number, 500-seed weight, and grain yield, i.e., 93.94% and 1.47kg.m-3, 147.27cm, 46.36%, 555.22 g, 625.52 seed.cob-1, 282.67g and 7.30 t ha-1, respectively. The com4 with the highest dose (16 t ha-1) was found to be significantly superior to the four other lower doses (com0, com1-10, com2-12, com3-14 t ha-1) in all studied parameters. (SDIS 10 and 8 l.hr-1 ) In integration with nitrogen, Com4 (16 t ha-1) showed the best performance among all other interactions.