The effect of mineral vs. bio fertilizer on growth, yield and essential oil contents of fennel (Foeniculum vulgare Mill)

The use of biofertilizers, in preference to chemical fertilizers, offers economic and ecological benefits. Therefore, this research work was carried out at the National Research Centre (NRC) Experimental Station (30°05'N, 31°22'E), located at about 22m altitude, in the north of Egypt, Al-Giza Governorate during two successive seasons. The effect of inoculation with Azospirillum, Azotobacter, Bacillus megatherium, the mixture of them, 50% of NPK (according to the recommended dosage by the Egyptian Ministry of Agriculture and Land Reclamation) or 100% of NPK (control), was investigated. Among these six treatments the inoculantion with B. megatherium reluted in the highest plant height. There were no significant differences among all treatments registered for plant fresh weight, number of branches/plant, plant dry weight and yield of fennel fruits/plant. Both fungal and bacterial inoculants altered the uptake of NPK and the contents of carbohydrates [1]. The essential oil characterization by gas liquid chromatography revealed that the level of anethol was significantly enhanced by the treatments with bio fertilizers [2].

References: [1] Stamford, N. et al. (2007) Bioresource Technology 98: 1311–1318. [2] Kapoor, R. et al. (2004) Bioresource Technology 93: 307–311.