Broccoli Seedling Production in Response to Recognised Organic Inputs

Abstract

This study evaluated the production of seedlings broccoli (Brassica oleracea var. Italica) with organic inputs. The inputs were as follows; a) growth medium, consisting of Sphagnum peat (Pro Moss TBK®) mixed with poultry manure compost (Vertia® brand) in a) 90:10 and 80:20 ratios; b) biofungicide Trichoderma harzianum Rifai (Natucontrol® brand) at doses of 1.5 and 3 g/L water per 338-cavity polystyrene tray; and c) complementary nutrition applied in irrigation with poultry manure tea at doses of 0.5 and 1 dS/m per tray every two days. Control set was a ‘typical management’ control based on peat (100%) as a growing medium with the application of conventional fertiliser (1 g/L of Tricel® 20 every two days) and conventional fungicide Mancozeb as a damping-off preventative (1 g/L per tray). The seedling growth, relative chlorophyll content, photosystem II quantum yield, and morphological indicators showed that the eight treatments with recognised organic inputs performed significantly better than the control (p<0.05). The use of peat substrate mixed with poultry manure (80:20 ratio) with inoculation of T. harzianum at a dose of 1.5–3 g/L and with application of poultry manure tea at a dose of 1 dS/m yielded the best results. We determined that it is possible to obtain quality broccoli seedlings with the inputs recognised for certified organic agriculture. © 2021 Friends Science Publishers