Effects of soil amendments and foliar fertilization on the pepper yield

Abstract

Pepper is one of the most economically important vegetable crops in the world, in Europe and in Serbia. Worldwide pepper growing areas reach 1,990,423 ha, while in Europe these areas reach 106,904 ha, with the largest growers being Spain (20,580 ha) (FAO, 2018). While Turkey and Romania remain with largest cultivation areas in Southeast Europe, Serbian pepper growing areas are close to the very top. Since 2010 Serbia has been growing peppers at the areas which range from 11,714 to 16,977 ha with a constant annual increasing trend of 5.25%. Bearing in mind the importance of peppers, the aim of this study was to test the effects of soil amendments and foliar fertilizers on the yield and quality of peppers in micro-trials with 12 different treatments in three replications. The trial was set up at the experimental field of the Extension Service in Sombor with pepper cultivar 'Red Gold' in a random block design on meadow black soil. The first pepper harvest showed statistically significant yield increase on the treatment fertilized with 300 kg ha‑1 Geo2 + 3×2 L ha-1 = 6 L ha‑1 AgrOptim zenith (0.9 L ha‑1 active matter) with the same amount of nitrogen compared to the control without fertilization. The increase of pepper yield was 28.37% (6,214.29 kg ha‑1). The study results confirmed statistically significantly higher pepper yield in the first and the second harvest in four test treatments compared to the control. The highest increase of yield was observed in the treatment with Geo2 300 kg ha‑1 + N120 kg ha‑1 + 3×2 L ha‑1 AgrOptim zenith. The obtained increase in pepper yield was 5,567.95 kg ha‑1 (18.16%) as compared to the control (30,654.57 kg ha‑1).