M.A. Deeb1, H.M. Ismaeel1 and R.N. Yousef2*
(1) General Authority of Agricultural Scientific Research, Tartous, Syria; (2) Plant Protection Department, Faculty of Agricultural Engineering, University of Homs, Syria.
*Email address of the corresponding author: [email protected]
This study was conducted in Al-Dkika village, in the Akkar plain, Tartous Governorate, Syria, during the 2023 agricultural season, to evaluate the effect of applying vermicompost and water hyacinth on the productivity of Capsicum annuum L. variety “Serad” and its resistance to the root knot nematode, Meloidogyne spp. The experiment included the following six treatments: a control without any addition, adding solid vermicompost only, adding water hyacinth powder at a rate of 1g per kg soil only, adding water hyacinth extract at a rate of 100 ml per plant only, adding vermicompost + water hyacinth powder at a rate of 1g per kg soil, adding vermicompost + water hyacinth extract at a rate of 100 ml per plant. A Randomized complete block design was employed, with three replicates for each treatment. The results obtained showed a positive effect of adding both vermicompost and water hyacinth, either individually or combined, and the combined treatment gave the highest values for the following indicators: average dry weight of the plant (17.33 g), average fruit weight (12.96 g), and average yield/plant (163 g). All treatments led to a significant decrease in the root-knot nematode infection indicators, the best of which was the vermicompost with water hyacinth extract treatment, which led to a decrease in the nematode density index in the soil by 75.04% and the nematodes gall index by 81.5%, compared to the control.
Vermicompost, Eichhornia crassipes, Capsicum annum, production, root-knot nematode, Syria.
https://doi.org/10.22268/AJPP-001521