Crop Science Research in Arid Regions

Crop Science Research in Arid Regions

Impact of some organic fertilizers on quantitative and qualitative yields of Isabgol (Plantago ovata Forsk) medicinal plant, under different levels of water availability

Document Type : Original Article

Authors
Mohammad Hossein Aminifard 1
Ali Nooki 2
Hamid-Reza Fallahi 3
Ali Azarinasrabad 4
1 Department of Horticultural Science, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Birjand, Birjand, Iran
2 South Khorasan Agricultural and Natural Resources Research and Education Center, AREEO, Birjand, Iran
3 Plant and Environmental Stresses Research Group (PESRG), Department of Plant Production and Genetics, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Birjand, Birjand, Iran
4 Crop and Horticultural Science Research Department, South Khorasan Agricultural and Natural Resources Research and Education Center, AREEO, Birjand, Iran
10.22034/csrar.2024.424888.1379
Abstract
Introduction: The management of water and nutrients are among the most important factors affecting the quality and quantity of medicinal plants. Among the medicinal plants, isabgol has a particular importance due to its mucilage, which is obtained from the seeds. It is an annual plant, which is mainly distributed in dry regions of the world. Considering that Iran is one of the arid and semi-arid countries and has recently faced with consecutive droughts, the optimal use of water resources should be prioritized. In this regard, it is important to introduce plants with low water requirements, such as isabgol. Since it is a medicinal plant, its fertilization using biological and organic fertilizers is also considered important. Therefore, in this experiment, the effect of different levels of water availability and bio fertilizers was studied on the growth and yield of isbgol.
Materials and Methods: In this experiment, the effect of water availability (irrigation after evaporation of 100, 150, and 200 mm from the evaporation pan) and organic nutritional resources (humic acid, fulvic acid, and seaweed extract along with no fertilization as control treatment) was studied on the growth of and yield of Isabgol, under climatic conditions of Birjand (59 oE, 32 oN, 1410 m above sea), Iran. The experiment was conducted as split plot based on a randomized complete block design with three replications. The levels of water availability were placed in the main plots and nutritional resources in the sub-plots. The measured traits included plant height, number of leaves and number of tiller per plant, fresh and dry weight of plant, number of spikes per plant, number of seeds per spike, weight of 1000 seeds, seed yield, biological yield, percentage and yield of mucilage. Statistical analysis was performed using SAS, version 9.4 and the means were compared using the protected LSD test at the 5% probability level.
Results and Discussion: The results of analysis of variance showed a significant effect of fertilizers application on most growth and yield indices, while the effect of irrigation management (except for number of leaves per plant) and interaction of studied factors was not significant on the evaluated traits. Application of all fertilizes, especially seaweed, improved the vegetative growth of the plant. The highest plant height (21 cm), number of leaves (16 per plant), number of tillers (4.8 No. per plant) and fresh weight of the plant (9.6 g) were gained from the seaweed extract, which were 31.2, 29.2, 39.9 and 78.1%, superior to the control treatment (no fertilizer application), respectively. The highest number of spikes (13.24 No. per plant) was obtained from humic acid application, which was 2.1 times more than the control treatment. Number of seeds per spike in seaweed, humic acid, fulvic acid and control treatments were 45.1, 44.3, 44.9 and 29, respectively, and 1000-seed weight was 1.63, 1.60, 1.62 and 1.55 g, respectively. Fertilizers application improved biological yield and seed yield, but in terms of these two traits, irrigation levels were in a same statistical group. The highest and the lowest biological yield (1942.2 and 1225.7 kg ha-1, respectively) and seed yield (763.4 and 456.1 kg ha-1, respectively) were gained from seaweed and control treatments, respectively. The percentage of mucilage was not affected by irrigation and nutritional managements, but the mucilage yield by the use of algae extract, humic acid and fulvic acid was increased by 56.4, 31.4 and 23.0%, respectively, compared to the control.
Conclusion: In general, consumption of all organic fertilizer types improved the growth and quantitative and qualitative yield of Isabgol, while reduced water availability had no negative effect on the plant growth and yield, which indicates that isabgol is well adapted to semi-arid regions.  
Keywords
Drought stress
Fulvic acid
Grain weight
Humic acid
Mucilage
Seaweed
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  • Receive Date 12 November 2023
  • Revise Date 13 February 2024
  • Accept Date 16 February 2024