TITLE:
Interaction Effects between Organic Fertilizers and Biofertilizers on the Growth of Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni
AUTHORS:
Mónica Guadalupe Lozano-Contreras, Genovevo Ramírez-Jaramillo, Jorge H. Ramírez-Silva
KEYWORDS:
Natural Sweetener, Inoculation, Biofertilizers
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Access Library Journal,
Vol.8 No.11,
November
15,
2021
ABSTRACT: In the last decade Stevia rebaudiana, has become one of the most demanded crops in the market dedicated to health care and food. However, the main consuming countries, from Asia and Europe, are constantly demanding organic products. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of organic fertilizers in combination with biofertilizers in the growth of Stevia. A randomized block design with divided plots (large and small) and three replications were used. In the large plots, the cuttings of stevia were inoculated with 1) Rhizophagus intraradices fungus (Rhiz); 2) A mixture of bacterias Bacillusspp. (Bacl) and Azospirillum brasilense (Azo); 3) Trichoderma spp. fungus (Trch); 4) A treatment with no inoculant (c). These inoculation treatments were combined, in the smaller plots with three sources of organic fertilizers named: 1) Sheep manure (Shim); 2) Bocashi (Bcsh); 3) chicken manure (Chm); 4) A treatment with any organic fertilizer. The plot with no inoculants nor organic fertilizers was the Absolute Control (Ac). There was a positive relationship between organic fertilizers and biofertilizers in the growth of Stevia. The highest yield corresponded to the Rhiz + Bcsh with 450.00 kg·ha-1 followed by Rhiz + Shim, and Trch + Chmboth with 410.00 kg·ha-1. The treatment with the lowest yield was the Ac with 120.00 kg·ha-1.