EFFECT OF ORGANIC AND BIOFERTILIZATION ON GROWTH, YIELD AND ESSENTIAL OIL CONTENT OF SWEET BASIL (OCIMUM BASIL/CUM)

Abstract

Sweet basil (Ocimum basilicum, L.) is one of the best known of ca. 160 Ocimum species, all of which are commonly coined as basil (Sabti and pushpangndan, 1977). Likewise, it is an important crop universally for its herb, essential oil, which is used as are food additive and in cosmetic,...etc.There are many forms of 0. basilicum which are classified based on plant morphology, pigmentation, and /or chemical composition of their essential oil (Simon et al., 1990; Prakesh, 1990; Small, 1997). It is a well known that the species basilicum is responsible for the very great number of subspecies as 0. basilicum a darutum, varieties, as dwarf ones as 0. basilicum vinimum, and forms of which Ocimum basilicum or sweet basil the most commonly and grown one (Vina and Murillo, 2003). During the past few decades, great attention has been directed towards the production of chemically free products from either medicinal or aromatic plants in outline of organic products. However, these chemical constituents are safe in use, superior in marketing and exportation, with basil which is cultivated either by direct seeded or transplants, and may be propagated by cuttings. Notablly, the production of basil plants properly needs a richer soil, more fertilization; nevertheless, mineral fertilization. Neverless, recommendations vary from country to anthor country (Hamasaki et al., 1994; Davis, 1997; Gulat and Duhan, 1972), according to soil's sensitivity to applied amount of fertilizers (Tesi et al, 1995; Hamasaki et al., 1994; Davis, 1997), forms of N applied (Tesi et al., 1995) and method of application (Gupta et al. ,1999). On the other hand, application of organic amendments such as compost and other organic manures has been demonstrated to be active means to manage soil fertility. These amendments not only provide plant with essential nutrients, but also their organic matters can improve the nutrient holding capacity of soil, nutrient availability, beneficial soil microorganism activity, soil structure, and plant growth in acid soils (Marchesini et al., 1998; Woomer et al.; 1994,) Huw and Sobieszezy, 1999; El- Shafie and El- Shkikhe, 2003). I However, there are few attemptes of recommendation for organic fertilization of basil plants such as Zidan and AI- Zahrani (1994); Kandeel et al. (2002); El- yazal et al. (2005). Also, chicken manure represents a significant potential source of plant nutrients to agronomical and horticultural commodities. As with the other organic fertilizers, no crop specific recommendations are available for basil fertilization program. Furthermore, biofertilization is one of the most important factors used to produce products free from mineral contamination. On the other hand, the intensive use of chemical fertilizers cause environmental pollution problem, and high rates of it leads to decrease in the potential activity of microflora and the mobility of organic matters. Hence, the attention has been focused on the researches of bio-fertilization to substitute chemical fertilizers. Bio-fertilizers play vital role for increasing the number of microorganisms and accelerate certain microbial process in the rhizosphere of inoculated soil of plants which can change the available forms of nutrients into plants (Alaa El-Din, 1982).