Abstract:
This study was carried out in open field conditions in Mersin/Silifke district of Turkey. As a result of excessive use of chemical fertilizers to increase yield in cauliflower farming, yield and quality losses increase in soils with poor organic matter content. For this purpose, in order to increase the lost yield and quality, vermicompost and increasing chemical fertilizer (KG) doses, which are well compatible with the soil microorganism, were applied together in the study. Some parameters (crown length, crown diameter, stem diameter, stem length, crown weight, marketable yield, number of leaves, leaf length and diameter) were measured in the plots harvested after about 120 days in cauliflower. Ac cording to the measurements made on the samples taken on plot basis, the average plant crown weight was VK+1/2KG (1.97 kg), VK+KG (2.05 kg) and VK+2KG (2.34 kg) applications were included in the same group. According to the measurements made on the samples in marketable yield, VK+1/2KG (40970 kg/ha), VK+KG (42460 kg/ha) and VK+2KG (42730 kg/ha) applications were included in the same group. According to these results, there was no increase in yield in parallel with the increase in fertilizer. The results of other measured parameters are similar to the yield results. While increasing fertilizer doses and vermicompost applications throughout the study showed the effect on the nutrient uptake of cauliflower, it provided a significant increase compared to the con trol application. The rate of increases in the dose of chemical fertilizers did not affect yield and yield factors. In cauliflower fertilization, average yield can be obtained as a result of the use of chemical fertilizers reduced by 50% in chemical fertil izer applications with the addition of vermicompost.
Keywords:
Yield
,
Vermicompost
,
Cauliflower
,
reduced chemical fertilizer