Effect of Water Stress and Salicylic Acid on the Growth and Oil Yield of Ocimum basilicum L. Plant in Newly Reclaimed Land

The present study was carried- out during the two successive seasons of 2017 and 2018 at Banger AL-Sokar region, Borg AL-Arab, Alexandria, Egypt to study the effect of water stress, salicylic acid and irrigation rate on vegetative growth and oil yield of Ocimum basilicum L. plant in newly reclaimed land. Three levels of water stress were determined as a percentage of field water capacity 100, 75 and 50% and four concentrations of salicylic acid (SA) as foliar spray 0, 0.1, 0.2, and 0.4 mM were used, as well as two irrigation interval rates (every 4th and 7th days were applied. The results showed that spraying SA with low concentration i.e., 0.1- 0.4 mM led to improve the vegetative growth and oil yield of sweet basil plants under water stress. The highest oil yield (7.38%) was achieved at 75% of field capacity in second cut in the second seasons with spraying of SA at 0.2 mM irrigated every 4 days as a moderate stress.