Use of Olive-Mill Wastewater for the Containment of Phelipanche ramosa in Open Field of Processing Tomato Crop

Francesco Lops,Antonia Carlucci,Annalisa Tarantino,Laura Frabboni,Grazia Disciglio

doi:10.18178/ijesd.2021.12.10.1354

Abstract

Phelipanche ramosa (L.) Pomel is a root holoparasitic weed that infested many crops, particularly the processing tomato. In semi-arid regions of the world, this problem is increasing, both in intensity and in acreages. In the last few years, researches for the control of this parasite has increased its effort to use suitable methods, as well as the utilization of natural compounds. In this regard, four experimental trials were carried out over three growing seasons (2014, 2016 and 2017), at Foggia (Apulia Region, Southern Italy), in the open field, on processing tomato (cv. “Dres”) crop, infested by P. ramosa, where the olive-mill wastewater (OMW) was incorporated into the soil at the dose of 80 m3 ha-1 40 days prior to tomato seedling transplant in comparison with the untreated control. The numbers of P. ramosa emerged shoots (branched plants) were significantly lower in the OMW treatment than in the untreated control. The tomato marketable yield showed a significantly higher value in the OMW treatment than the untreated control. No significant differences for the fruit qualitative characteristics were observed.

Highlights

Apulia Region, a coastal area of southeastern Italy, is the most important agricultural area for processing tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) crop, with the annual 17920 hectares, 90% of which are in Foggia province [1]
At 56 days after transplanting (DAT) a low infestation was observed in the mean shoot values of all the trials, as average of each treatment at harvesting times, they were significantly lower in olive-mill wastewater (OMW) (13.1 m-2) compared to the control (27.3 m-2)
The results show the significant higher tomato marketable yield in the OMW treated crop than that in untreated crop, where higher P. ramosa infestation was registered

Summary

Introduction

Apulia Region, a coastal area of southeastern Italy, is the most important agricultural area for processing tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) crop, with the annual 17920 hectares, 90% of which are in Foggia province [1]. In this area, in the last years, the tomato crop has been increasingly infested by the obligate root holoparasite plants of Phelipanche ramosa (L.) Pomel The P. ramosa branched plant, composed of shoot numbers between 2 and 30, emerge from the soil between 35 and 56 DAT [2], [3] They cause great yield reduction, ranging from 5 to 100%, depending on the timing and severity of the infestation [4], [5]. The parasitized tomato plants initially show some stunted growth, and subsequently a decrease in the quantity and quality of the yield, because of the reduced ability to use nutrients and water removed from the parasitic plant

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Discussion

Conclusion