EFFECTS OF ORGANIC, CHEMICAL AND INTEGRATED NUTRITION SYSTEMS ON MORPHO-PHYSIOLOGICAL TRAITS OF OREGANO (Origanum vulgare L.)

Abstract

In order to evaluate the effects of organic, chemical and integrated nutrition systems on morpho-physiologicaltraits of oregano (Origanum vulgare L.), an experiment was carried out at the experimental farm of theAgricultural and Natural Resources Research Center, Urmia, Iran, during 2016-2017 growing season. Theexperimental design was a completely randomized block design with three replications. The experimentaltreatments included NPK, two organic (vermicompost and biochar), two biological (nitroxin and bio superphosphate) fertilizers and their all twin combinations and control (non-fertilized). Our results showed that theapplication of organic fertilizers caused a significant increase in yield and essential oil content in oregano. Onthe other hand, integrated nutrition treatments had the most effect on increasing the traits in compared withthe individual treatments. The highest essential oil yield was obtained from Nitroxin treatment (871.27 kg ha-1)in the second year. Whereas, the lowest value of essential oil yield was found in control (non-fertilized) (25.92kg ha-1) in the first year. The present study clearly indicated that chemical fertilizers could be replaced by biofertilizersresulted in similar oil yield.