Effect of organic agriculture on productivity of some Russian parsley varieties under North Sinai conditions

Abstract EN

his field experiment was conducted during the two successive seasons of 2012/2013 and 2013/2014 in El-Maghara Research Station, Desert Research Center, North Sinai Governorate to evaluate the productivity and quality of some Russian parsley varieties by using organic farming practices.

Compost manure was added to the soil at three rates of 10, 15 and 20 m3/feddan.

Seeds of different flat-leaf parsley varieties were sown (local, Leaf Breeze, Legendary Hero and Leaf Sandwich).

The results showed that the increase in organic fertilization rates led to an increase in herb yield and its quality characters (chlorophyll pigment content in the leaves and essential oil yield).

Despite the superiority of local variety in herb productivity, its quality parameters were low, while vegetative yield of foreign varieties was marked by high quality specifications (high chlorophyll content and essential oil yield).

There were differences in constituents of essential oil between varieties.

The response of plants to organic fertilization treatments was varied according to variety type.

The best of the Russian varieties was Legendary Hero variety fertilized with 15 m3 compost/feddan.