IMPROVING ECOLOGICAL RESILIENCE AND SWEET PEPPER (CAPSICUM ANNUUM L.) CROP YIELD VIA BIOCHAR AND WOOD VINEGAR APPLICATION

DAN IOAN AVASILOAIEI, MARIANA CALARA(*), CLAUDIA BĂLĂIȚĂ, ANDREEA ANTAL-TREMURICI

Vegetable Research and Development Station Bacău, 220 Calea Bârladului Street, Bacău, Romania
* Corresponding author: Calara M. E-mail address: calaramariana@gmail.com

DOI: https://doi.org/10.29081/scsb.2024.33.2.06

Abstract

Modern agriculture is increasingly focused on sustainable and eco-friendly practices to meet growing global food demands while reducing the environmental footprint. This study investigates the application of biochar and wood vinegar as potential eco-agricultural tools to improve the growth, yield, and ecological sustainability of DarianaBac sweet pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) variety in an ecological farming system. Over the course of 2023 growing season, field experiments were conducted to evaluate the effects of the two horticultural applications and the outcome highlighted that biochar and wood vinegar treatments had a synergistic effect, leading to increased sweet pepper plant growth, including greater plant height, leaf and flower number per plant, and overall biomass production. Moreover, an improved quality of the sweet pepper harvest was underscored. These findings highlight the potential of the two treatments of enhancing the ecological sustainability of sweet pepper cultivation in an eco-agricultural system while reducing the environmental impact associated with conventional farming practices. Further studies are warranted to optimize application methods and dosages, as well as to assess the potential of these amendments in other ecological crop systems.

Keywords

Charcoal soil-enhancer Eco-friendly Harvest quality Biomass yield Sustainability