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Effect of fulvic acid on yield performance of organic bell pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) under open-field conditions in Tennessee

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Abstract

Two field experiments were carried out at Tennessee State University (TSU) organic farm, Nashville, TN, for two successive seasons of 2021 and 2022. The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of soil and foliar application of fulvic acid (FA) at various concentrations on fruit yield parameters of bell pepper cv. Revolution in open field conditions under an organic management system. FA was applied as a soil drench to the plant root area and foliar spray on the leaf surface at 4 different concentrations (0.0, 2.3, 5.5, 7.8, 10.9 ml L−1). Data was collected on yield and its components (fruit length, fruit diameter, fruit firmness, fruit fresh weight, number of fruit, marketable yield, and total yield). In 2021, foliar treatment of FA at 5.5 ml L−1 and 7.8 ml L−1 produced significantly (P ≤ 0.05) higher number of fruits (29.13 and 29.47 fruit per plant, respectively) which subsequently lead to an increase in marketable yield (4.28 kg and 4.13 per plant, respectively) compared to the control. In 2022, soil treatment at 7.8 ml L−1 produced the highest number of fruits (21 fruit per plant) with an increase in marketable yield (2.61 kg per plant) compared to the control. Overall, our study demonstrated that soil and foliar application of FA at 5.5 ml L−1 and 7.8 ml L−1 was effective to enhance yield, and it is a promising treatment that is environmentally safe to be used to obtain higher marketable yield in organically grown bell pepper.

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Acknowledgements

Funding for the research was received from the TSU Cooperative Extension (#223199) program. The authors thank Shahid Chowdhary for field assistance.

Funding

The present work was funded and supported by the Tennessee State University Cooperative Extension (CE) Program.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences, College of Agriculture, Tennessee State University, Nashville, TN, 37209, USA

    Pinkky Kanabar & Dilip Nandwani

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  1. Pinkky Kanabar
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  2. Dilip Nandwani
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All the authors contributed to the field and lab experiments, writing and review of this manuscript.

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Correspondence to Dilip Nandwani.

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Kanabar, P., Nandwani, D. Effect of fulvic acid on yield performance of organic bell pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) under open-field conditions in Tennessee. Org. Agr. 13, 431–441 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13165-023-00437-2

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