Effects of Different Level of Nitrogen and Phosphorous Fertilizers on Yield Quantity and Quality of Matricaria recutita

In order to investigate the effects of different levels of nitrogen and phosphorous fertilizers on qualitative yield and some quality components of German chamomile (Matricaria recutita L.), a factorial experiment based on a randomized complete block design with four replications was carried out in the Medicinal Plant Research Farm of Shirvan College of Agriculture in 2007. Nitrogen had three levels (0, 100, 200kg/ha as source of urea) and phosphorous also had three levels including 0, 30, 60kg/ha triple super phosphate.The results showed that application of nitrogen and phosphorous fertilizers to the soil imposed a significant effects (p<0.01) on plant height, number of branches per plant, number of flower per plant and flower yield. The main effects of nitrogen fertilizer appeared in improvement of vegetative growth of plants. Plants treated with 200 nitrogen per hectare and 60kg phosphorous per hectare significantly produced the highest flower yield per square meter. Fertilizer did not affect the percentage of chamazulene. However, plant treated with 200kg nitrogen and 60kg phosphorous produced highest essential oil and chamazulene per square meter due to higher flower yield.

Acknowledgement: I would like to express my appreciation for research deputy of the Ferdowsi University of Mashhad for financial support.

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