Improving Yield and Essential Oil of fennel (Foeniculum vulgare Mill) Intercropping with Fodder Plants under different Management of Soil Fertility

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 Guilan university, Rasht, Iran

2 Research Institute of Forests and Rangelands/ Tehran/ Iran

10.22034/saps.2024.57998.3095

Abstract

Background and Objectives: Lack of fodder and increasing demand for medicinal plants in the country has led to the necessity of producing these plants in a safe and healthy way. Therefore, intrecropping and reducing the use of chemical fertilizers by replacing them with biological and organic fertilizers are very important for the production of these plants. In this research, the ability to biennial medicinal plant fennel with annual fodder plants was evaluated in order to achieve proper yield in a sustainable manner.
 
Materials and Methods: This experiment was conducted during two crop years of 2017-2018 in the research farm of the Research Institute of Forests and Ranges, Karaj, Iran, as a factorial experiment in the form of a randomized complete block design and in three replications. The experimental treatments include fertilizer levels (100% of NPK chemical fertilizers, a mixture of biofertilizers Aztobarur1, Phosphatebarvar2 and Petabarvar2, vermicompost (six t.h-1), a combination of 50% chemical fertilizers+biofertilizers+vermicompost and a combination of 75% chemical fertilizers+biofertilizers+vermicompost) and replacement mixed crop ratios (pure cultivation of fennel, hairy vetch and forage corn, ratio 1:1 fennel:forage plant, ratio 2:1 fennel:forage plant and ratio 1:2 fennel:forage plant). growth period of fennel is about six months, and during this period, the fennel first grew to the stage of rapid growth next to the fennel and after harvesting the fennel at 50% flowering, the corn plant was planted.
 
Results: The results showed that the effect of cultivation patterns and soil fertility management on the quantitative and qualitative yield of fennel is significant. Also, the highest plant growth and yield was observed in all cultivation patterns and fertilizer treatments in the second year of the experiment compared to the first year. The highest plant height (148 cm) and the number of seeds in the umbrella (182) were obtained for pure cultivation with the combination of 75% of chemical fertilizers+biological fertilizers+vermicompost in the second year. While the highest number of sub-branches (14), thousand seed weight (4 gr), seed yield (1964 kg.ha-1) and essential oil yield (35 kg. ha-1) are related to 1:1 ratio of fennel: fodder plants in the same fertilizer treatment in 2017.
 
Conclusion: In general, the application of intercropping and fertilizer treatments increased the quantitative and qualitative characteristics of fennel in both years. So that in the first year, due to the initial slow growth of fennel and the low height of hairy vetch, both plants benefited positively from intercropping, and after fennel started to grow rapidly, hairy vetch was harvested and fodder corn was planted instead. It was cultivated that both plants grew well in intercropping. In the second year, due to the presence of fennel in the field, intercropping was more beneficial than pure cultivation of fennel.
 
 

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References

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Journal of Agricultural Science and Sustainable Production
Volume 35, Issue 3
2025
Pages 25-42

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