Effect of Plant Biostimulants on Growth, Yield and Some Mineral Composition of Broccoli Plants (Brassica oleracea var. Italica)

Abstract

By offering biostimulants as substitutes for conventional chemical fertilization, increasing consumer awareness has helped to raise issues related to food safety and the environment. Creating a suitable plan for the deployment of conventional chemical fertilization alternatives in agriculture. So, this investigation was conducted at the College of Agricultural Engineering Sciences, University of Sulaimani, Kurdistan Region-Iraq to study the effect of two plant biostimulants, algae extract (Algaton-20) and plant bio-cozyme, on broccoli which was under greenhouse conditions. After two weeks from transplanting the biostimulants were applied through soil at different concentrations (0 ml.L-1, 1ml.L-1 and 2 ml.L-1). The experiment was laid out according to Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with three replications. The results revealed that algae extract and bio-cozyme at 2 ml.L-1 gave the maximum number lateral head, lateral head weight, plant yield, total marketable yield, phosphorus and iron. The interaction effect of algae extracts and bio-cozyme showed that number of leaves per plant and head diameter at 1 ml.L-1 algae extract and bio-cozyme, percentage of dry matter at 1 ml.L-1 algae extract without bio-cozyme, content of chlorophyll in leaves and number lateral head at 1 ml.L-1 algae extract and 2 ml.L-1 bio-cozyme, and head diameter at 1 ml.L-1 of both algae extract and bio-cozyme were the best. Also, main head weight, lateral head weight, plant yield, total marketable yield and iron (674.46 g, 208.58 g, 883.04 g, 42.05 ton.ha-1, 5.36 ppm, respectively) were the highest at 2 ml.L-1 combination of the two biostimulants. Moreover, nitrate and potassium (134.67 ppm, 336.13 ppm, respectively) were maximum at 2 ml.L-1 algae extract and 1 ml.L-1 bio-cozyme. Individually, 2 ml.L-1 of the two biostimulants were the best concentrations, but there was no a big difference between 1 and 2 ml.L-1 of the two biostimulants when they interacted together in most study measurements.

Keywords

• Biostimulators; Algae extract; Internal Quality; Nutrition; Nitrate