response of caraway carum carvi plants to organic manures in replacement of chemical fertilization

Abstract

An experiment was conducted during the summer season of 2011 at the field of Research Institute, University of Anbar, Iraq in order to evaluate the response of caraway Carum carvi L. plants under two types of organic fertilization: Bat and ostrich manures used for various levels. The experiment was applied by a randomized complete block design (RCBD) arrangement with four replications. Results proved the superiority of organic manure via enhancing growth performance and yield components of caraway plants in comparing with no fertilizer. Bat manure showed the best results in most of the studied traits as compared with ostrich manure. Furthermore, among all organic manure levels, bat manure at rate 135 kg ha-1 achieved the best results in most of the tested traits and the final seed yield was increased by 30.5% in this level as compared with no fertilizer. Accordingly, this study recommends the possibility of using organic manures as an attractive alternative to chemical fertilizers for improving growth performance and yield components in caraway plants. Using organic manure could help in decreasing soil contamination and synthetic residuals presented by chemical fertilizer.