Effects of biofertilizer and vermicompost on quantitative and qualitative yield of Silybum marianum L.

To investigate the effects of vermicompost and phosphate biofertilizer Barvar-2 on quantitative and qualitative yield of Silybum marianum L., a factorial experiment was conducted in a randomized complete block design with three replications in a field near Ardebil city in 2018-2019 crop year. Vermicompost was used at five levels (0, 10, 20, 30, and 40 ton.ha-1) and biofertilizer at two levels (inoculation and non-inoculation). The results showed that seed yield, 1000-seed weight, number of seeds per capitule, number of capitules per plant, biological yield, oil yield, silymarin yield, and flower fresh weight were significantly affected by different levels of vermicompost. Also, the application of phosphate biofertilizer Barvar-2 had a significant effect on all traits except inflorescence diameter. The highest amount of traits in the vermicompost treatment was obtained in the application of 40 tons.ha-1. However, there was no statistically significant difference for the traits including number of seeds per capitule, oil, silymarin, and silybin percentage, oil yield, and number of inflorescences in the application of 40 and 30 tons vermicompost per hectare. In biofertilizer treatment, the highest amount of traits was observed in inoculation with this fertilizer. The highest silybin percentage (16.81) and silymarin yield (37.61 kg.ha-1) were obtained in the application of 40 tons vermicompost per hectare and the lowest one (16.12% and 30.56 kg.ha-1, respectively) at the control level of vermicompost.