Plant Protection (Scientific Journal of Agriculture)

Plant Protection (Scientific Journal of Agriculture)

Integrated role of nanofertilizer in reducing alternaria leaf spot severity and enhancing growth of date palm under saline conditions

Document Type : Research paper-English

Authors
F. M. Al-Hamoud
R. M. S Alasadi
A. S. Mahdi
A. N. Ahmed
Date palm Research Center, University of Basrah, Basra, 42001, Iraq
10.22055/ppr.2025.50378.1828
Abstract
This study used “LOENERGY PLUS” as a nanofertilizer to mitigate the negative effects of salinity on physiological functions, nutrient uptake, and disease spread in date palm offshoots of the Halawi cultivar. Three different levels of salinity water were added (5, 10, and 15) dS.m⁻¹, with nanofertilizer added in some treatments and without it in others. The leaf nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, and chlorophyll content were reduced significantly by salinity, while the results showed an increase in proline levels and enhanced susceptibility to Alternaria alternata. Application of nanofertilizer markedly alleviated these effects by improving nutrient accumulation, reducing proline accumulation, and preserving chlorophyll content. Most notably, the disease severity was significantly reduced under nanofertilizer treatment, with the damaged area decreasing from 58.29% to 32.12% at 15 dS.m⁻¹. It is evident that nanofertilizers play an important role in protecting plants against diseases. This indicates that nanofertilizers play an important role in improving plant physiological functions and reducing damage under saline conditions.
Keywords
Alternaria alternata
fungi
pathogenicity
oxidative stress
proline accumulation
chlorophyll stability
Subjects
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 © 2026 by the authors. Licensee SCU, Ahvaz, Iran. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0 license) (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/.
Plant Protection (Scientific Journal of Agriculture)
Volume 48, Issue 4
Autumn 2026
Pages 53-66