Effect of vermicompost and organic matters soil application on yield, fruit physical and chemical composition of H116 pomegranate trees

Abstract

Pomegranate trees are one of the most important economic fruit crops that bear cultivation in arid and high temperature zones, it also bears the increase in salinity in the soil and irrigation water. Pomegranate fruits are characterized by their health benefits and contain a large amount of nutrients and antioxidants. Vermicompost is one of the organic fertilizers used recently in the field of agriculture, also it is characterized by containing nutrients and natural growth regulators that are important for the growth of trees and increase the yield. So the purpose of this study is determine the appropriate rate of vermicompost and organic matters to have the best yield of pomegranate fruits and to improve its physical and chemical characteristics. The present research has been made during two seasons (2020 and 2021) in a private orchard located in El-Beheira governorate, Egypt, to examine the effect of soil application of vermicompost at a rate of 1:5 kg/tree and organic matters at a rate of 5:10 kg/tree on productivity, physical and chemical properties of fruits and leaf minerals content of H116 pomegranate trees. The addition of vermicompost and organic matters in different rates were able to effect on leaves mineral content, fruits yield, fruit physical and chemical characteristics of H116 cultivar, compared with the treated trees with organic matter only. Moreover, soil application H116 cultivar with 2 kg vermicompost + 8 kg organic (T2) and 5 kg vermicompost + 5 kg organic matter were the best treatment in this study to gave the highest leaf minerals content, fruits yield and fruit physical and chemical characteristics and antioxidant activity in the 1st and 2nd seasons, respectively.