Eissa Nofal^1*, khaled Ismaill¹ and Wafaa AlAboud¹

1 General commission for scientific agricultural research.

(*Corresponding author: Eissa nofal, Email: eissanofa@gmail.com).

Received: 24/ 11/ 2025    Accepted: 13/ 5/ 2026

Abstract: 

A field experiment was conducted at the Mukhtariyah Research Station, affiliated with the Agricultural Scientific Research Center in Homs, on sandy clay soil during 2021 to evaluate the effect of adding different levels of cow manure (10, 20, and 40 tons/ha) on some chemical, physical, and hydrophysical properties of the soil and on eggplant crop productivity. The results showed that adding organic fertilizer significantly improved (P ≤ 0.05) some soil properties. Bulk density decreased to 1.19 g/cm³ in the 40 tons/ha treatment compared to 1.26 g/cm³ in the control, and total porosity increased to 54.03%, leading to improved aeration and root growth environment. On the water side, the highest rate (40 tons/hectare) showed an advantage in field capacity (37.22%) and available water (25.95%), thus enhancing irrigation water use efficiency and reducing losses through deep leaching. The 40 tons/hectare organic fertilization treatment also achieved the highest crop yield, averaging 3.85 kg/m², significantly surpassing traditional mineral fertilization, which recorded 2.25 kg/m². This study demonstrates that using organic residues represents a sustainable and effective alternative for improving soil fertility and increasing agricultural productivity in the central region of Syria.

Keywords: Organic fertilizers, soil properties, productivity.

 Full paper in Arabic: PDF