EFFECT OF ORGANIC BIOSTIMULANTS ON PRODUCTION AND QUALITY OF PEACH UNDER SAIS PLAIN CLIMATIC CONDITION

Abstract

The improvement of crops quality and productivity, and the environment quality is an important problem worldwide. Due to the increased need for agricultural products and climate change, new tools has been developed that enhance plant tolerance against biotic and abiotic stresses .Therefore the use of plant biostimulants (formally known as bioeffectors), may be promising alternative to chemical methods, has become common practice in agriculture in stimulating growth .In this context our experiment was conducted in a conventional peach orchard in the Fez-Meknes region. Peach is an important cultivar in Morocco in general ; thanks to its good productivity with high-quality fruits.We chose peach for its place in the region's arboreal sector, its vulnerability to the effects of water stress and its growing demand in the market. The objective of our experiment is to study the effect of stimulants on the yield and quality of Peach (Prunus persica) in the face of biotic and abiotic stresses in the Sais Plain. The experiment was spread over two seasons on three-year-old trees. It consisted of the application of organic biostimulants (Vitazyme, Protifert LMW10, Protifert LMW6.3, Protifert Zinc and Naturfer), in order to study their effects on: fruit weight, fruit length, fruit diameter, flesh weight, core weight, Sugar content and titratable acidity. The analysis of the results via the SPSS (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences) software showed that the organic biostimulants studied have, in general, a positive effect on the improvement of the yield of the peach tree. This effect is particularly marked in the second year. Regarding the quality of peaches we found that the application of biostimulants increases the content of sugars in the fruit.