Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
human health problems, depletion of non-renewable resources, and make
plants less resistant to pests and diseases (Jevdjović and Maletić, 2006; Mal
et al., 2013). Environmental problems related to the use of synthetic fertil-
izers and to organic waste management have led to an increased interest in
the use of organic materials as an alternative source of nutrients for crops,
but this is also associated with N
2
O emissions (Aguilera et al., 2013).
The vermicompost is the product of composting using various worms,
usually red wigglers, white worms, and other earthworms to create a het-
erogeneous mixture of decomposing vegetable or food waste, bedding
materials, and vermicast. The vermicompost is a management practice
that may contribute to sustainable agroecosystems by making them less
dependent on inorganic fertilizers (Amossé et al., 2013).
The results from a study on anise (
Pimpinella anisum
L.) in Turkey
showed that plant height, number of branches per plant, number of um-
bellets per plant, number of seeds per umbellet, seed yield and thousand
seed weight were affected positively by organic fertilizer and organic-in-
organic fertilizer combination application (Doğramaci and Arabaci, 2010).
Nabizadeh et al. (2012) reported that the highest seed yield and the highest
oil content were achieved (1,286 and 179 kg/ha) by fertilizer treatment us-
ing biological Nitroxin (3 l/ha) and chemical nitrogen (60 ha/kg) with the
density of 25 plants/m
2
respectively.
Plant spacing is an important factor in determining the microenvironment
in the anise fi eld and can lead to a higher yield in the crop by favorably af-
fecting the absorption of nutrients and exposure of the plant to the light. The
current study was carried out to determine the effects of different plant densi-
ties and type of fertilizers on the yield of seed and its main components—the
weight of 1000 seeds, the number of umbels per plant, the number of umbel-
lets per umbel, the number of seeds per umbellet and yield of essential oil.
8.2 MATERIAL AND METHODS
This study was conducted at Khorasan Agriculture and Natural Resources
Center with geographic coordinates of latitudes 36°13' N and longitudes
