Effect of Seaweed Extracts as Bio Stimulant on Growth Parameters in Spinach
Abstract
Spinach (Spinacia oleracea), is an important cool season vegetable crop which is widely consumed due to its high nutritional content and eco-friendly techniques has a great role in enhancing the productivity and nutritional quality of spinach in context of human health and sustainable agriculture. Among different organic amendments, seaweed is an important organic extract which can be utilized effectively as biofertilizer in improving the vegetative growth in Spinach. The present study was carried out at Amity Institute of Organic Agriculture, Amity University Noida, UP to study the potential of seaweed extract, a bio stimulant on growth parameters in Spinach (Spinacia oleracea L.). Seaweed is an organic bio-stimulant, which is rich in vitamins, amino acids and phytohormones. The field experiment was conducted at the Amity Institute of Organic Agriculture in Randomized Block Design (RBD) with six treatments as 20, 40, 60, 80 and 100 ml were tested for its stimulative potential of plant growth.
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Introduction
Spinach (Spinacia oleracea L.)is a leafy vegetable crop which is rich in nutrients and bioactive compounds like spinacetin, patuletin and coumaric acid derivatives with potent antioxidant activity (Bergman et al., 2001; Pandjaitan et al., 2005). Spinach being a nutritionally rich crop is also a substantial source of fiber (Antonia et al., 2001). Being a cool season crop, it is cultivated in a temperature range of 7-15 °C with adequate moisture conditions (Chitwood et al., 2017). Spinach which was originally indigenous to Central and Western Asia was later brought to India and then China in 7th century. As the agriculture is proceeding towards sustainability with an aim to utilize organic source for fertilizers for nutrition, more emphasis was made on organic compounds. Utilization of natural seaweed extracts as biofertilizers has thus, made it possible to partially replace the traditional synthetic fertilizers during recent years (Hong et al., 2007). Seaweed extracts are non-toxic, non-polluting, biodegradable which are safer for the environment and human (Khan et al. 2009). Different seaweed products are available that can be utilized as liquid extracts either applied as foliar spray or assoil drench that will act assoil conditioners (Thirumaran et al., 2009). Among different organic amendments, seaweed is an organic extract that can be effectively utilized as a bio-stimulant by various researchers (Singh et al., 2016; Rouphael et al., 2017). Seaweed extract has been utilized effectively in various vegetable crops with benefits like higher yield and foliar biomass. The beneficial and economic effects of seaweed extracts on overall growth, yield and quality attributes with different horticultural crops have been reported (Kumar et al., 2020). Seaweed extracts are bio-stimulants that improve plant growth and stress tolerance. These extracts have been reported to increase plant tolerance to biotic and abiotic stress conditions (Guinan et al., 2013; Hariharan et al., 2024). The most common seaweed extract (Ascophyllum nodosum) positively affects the spinach germination, its vegetative growth as well as antioxidant activity under stressed conditions (Anjos et al., 2020). Seaweed extracts thereby improve the soil health by increasing the plant and soil microbial activity (Moore et al., 2004).
Conclusion
This study concluded that the application of seaweed extract at a concentration of 60 ml was the most effective that significantly enhanced the growth parameters like plant height, number of leaves and yield and thus can be utilized as a potent organic bio-fertilizers for spinach production. The increase in vegetative growth can be attributed due to production of natural plant growth regulators and other essential micronutrients and the increase in number of leaves is due to the enhanced photosynthetic activity. Thereby, results suggest the role and importance of seaweed extract as an effective and sustainable biostimulant to improve the early growth in Spinach, which is crucial for achieving sustainability in crop production.
