Assesment of Dragon’s head (Lallemantia iberica (MB) Fischer & Meyer) Mucilage Quantity and Quality by Application of Conventional Chemical and Nanofertilizers

Excessive use of chemical fertilizers in conventional agriculture on the large-scale decreased the nutrient use efficiency and caused serious environmental problems such as soil and water pollution, genetic erosion, soil erosion, mineral depletion, soil acidification and other issues. Today, to achieve sustainable agriculture with maximum yield and minimum environmental risks, other methods of fertilization (use of nanofertilizers) can be used to provide necessary nutrients for plant growth and yield production, while preserved the soil structure in good shape and the environment clean.

In order to investigation of the effects of sole and integrative application of chemical and nano chelated fertilizers on the quantity and quality of dragon’s head, a field experiment study was laid out based on the randomized complete block design (RCBD) with seven treatments and three replications at the faculty of Agriculture, University of Maragheh, Iran, in 2019. The treatments were 100% chemical fertilizer (N and P), 100% macro nanofertilizer (nano chelated N, P and K), 100% micro nanofertilizer (nano chelated Fe, Zn and Mn), 50% macro nanofertilizer+ 50% micro nanofertilizer, 50% chemical fertilizer+ 50% macro nanofertilizer, 50% chemical fertilizer+ 50% micro nanofertilizer and 50% chemical fertilizer+ 25% macro nanofertilizer+ 25% micro nanofertilizer. The foliar application of nano chelated fertilizers was carried out in before flowering stage.

The results demonstrated that the highest (581.3 kg.ha-1 ) and the lowest (321.3 kg.ha-1) grain yield was achieved in integrated application of 50% chemical fertilizer+ 25% macro nanofertilizer+ 25% micro nanofertilizer and individual application of 100% micro nanofertilizer, respectively. Also, the highest values of mucilage content and yield was observed in integrated application of 50% chemical fertilizer+ 25% macro nanofertilizer+ 25% micro nanofertilizer. The results of correlation and principal components analysis demonstrated that there was a positive and significant correlation between seed yield, mucilage content and yield. In addition, the analysis of mucilage chemical compounds showed that the highest amount of constituents (gluconic acid, arabinose, raffinose, rhamnose, galactose, glazose and glucose) were achieved in the integrative application of 50% chemical fertilizer+ 25% macro nanofertilizer+ 25% micro nanofertilizer.

Overally, the results of this study indicated that integrative application of 50% chemical fertilizer with macro and micro nanofertilizers as a new method in the production and cultivation of medicinal plants can improve the Quantitative and qualitative yield of dragon’s head under rainfed condition.