Abstract
Lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.) production is a valuable crop for supporting family farms in the Brazilian semiarid region. The cultivation of this vegetable in a hydroponic system with foliar application of organic fertilizer can help in mitigating the challenges imposed by the region’s edaphoclimatic conditions. Therefore, it is important to increase the lettuce production using new technologies. VIUSID Agro® is an example of such technology that has the potential to increase lettuce yields. VIUSID Agro® is a natural compound that actives molecular processes without affecting the environment adversely. This product acts as a natural bioregulator and is basically composed of amino acids, vitamins, and minerals. The experiment’s objective was to analyze the impact of VIUSID Agro® organic fertilizer on the growth of hydroponic lettuce. The research was conducted on a family farm in Bom Jesus, Paraíba state, Brazil. The experimental was a completely randomized design with 5 VIUSID VIUSID Agro® concentrations (0.0; 0.2; 0.4; 0.6 and 0.8 mL L-1) and 15 replications. Among the indicators evaluated were the plant length, leaf number, stem diameter, root length, and fresh and dry biomass. The results showed that the 0.4 mL L-1 VIUSID Agro® concentration produced greater growth than the control (0.0 mL L-1) for variables analyzed plant length, fresh and dry biomass of aerial portion, root length, fresh and dry biomass of root. The foliar application of VIUSID Agro® improved the performance of the lettuce morphological characteristics in a hydroponic cultivation system. Although this is the first Brazil research evaluating VIUSID Agro® as an organic fertilizer in hydroponic lettuce, results have shown promise.
Highlights
Vegetable production is currently involved generating farming income and employment in all Brazilians regions
Hydroponic cultivation is characterized by plant production without soil, where essential minerals and nutrients are provide through a growing solution
The number of leaves (NL) was significantly greater for the 0.4 mL L-1 and the control treatments compared to the other treatments, both averaged 8 leaves per plant (Table 3)
Summary
Vegetable production is currently involved generating farming income and employment in all Brazilians regions. L. sativa is an herbaceous vegetable belonging to the Asteraceae family from Asia, which was brought to Brazil by the Portuguese in 16th century (Resende et al, 2018) It has leaves growing in a rosette format attached to a small stem. Hydroponic cultivation is characterized by plant production without soil, where essential minerals and nutrients are provide through a growing solution. VIUSID Agro® is an example of an organic fertilizer It is a natural 100% vegetable product, which acts as a natural bioregulator. It is important to determine the impact and technology efficiency of VIUSID Agro® as it relates to increasing plant growth under hydroponic production systems. We conducted research to determine the impact of VIUSID Agro® on hydroponic lettuce growth in Brazilian semiarid region
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