Investigating the Effect of Chicken Manure and Potassium Sulfate on the Physiological Properties of Fenugreek )Trigonella foenum-graecum L.( Medicinal Plant

IntroductionFenugreek (Trigonella foenum-graecum L.), is an annual plant found in many countries in Africa, Asia, and Europe, and India is the largest producer in the world. There are two types of fenugreek, one botanically known as Trigonella foenum-gracum and the other Trigonella corniculata (Champa or Kasturi Methi) of the Leguminosae family. The integrated management system is a system in which reducing the use of chemical fertilizers and the combined use of chemical fertilizers and organic materials are considered. Among organic fertilizers, chicken manure is very important due to its high nitrogen concentration, high carbon quality, low carbon-nitrogen ratio, and providing large amounts of important nutrients required for plant growth. The appropriate amount of potassium sulfate fertilizer in the soil facilitates the osmotic adjustment in the soil, as a result of which the osmotic pressure remains in the leaves, and in this way, the plant's ability to cope with drought stress increases. Therefore, considering the mentioned cases and the lack of scientific information in the field of combining fertilizers, in this research, an attempt was made to find a suitable fertilizer combination consisting of chicken manure and potassium sulfate for the fenugreek plant.Materials and MethodsTo investigate the effect of chicken manure and potassium sulfate on the physiological characteristics of the fenugreek medicinal plant, factorial research was conducted based on randomized complete block design with three replications in the crop year 2021-2022 in Qochan city in the north of Razavi Khorasan province. Experimental treatments included chicken manure at three levels (0, 1000, and 2000 kg. h-1) and potassium sulfate at four levels (0, 1.5, 3, and 5 per thousand). The chicken manure concentrate was given to the ground according to the investigated area before planting. The planting depth of fenugreek seeds was considered to be 1.5 cm. To prevent the binding of seeds, the seeds were covered with fine sand mixed with animal manure. Then, at the 4-6 leaf stage, thinning was done to reach the appropriate density. The first irrigation after planting and subsequent irrigations were done once every six days until the end of the growing season. Also, Soluptas fertilizer was applied as a foliar spray after planting, from the six-leaf stage to the flowering stage, three times with an interval of 14 days. The investigated traits of this experiment included morphological and physiological traits, which were sampled after the plants were fruited and the pods turned yellow by removing the marginal effect.Results and Discussion The results showed that the highest level of secondary and main stem height, leaf dry weight and other growth traits were obtained with the highest level of chicken manure (2000 kg/ha), which of course was not significantly different from the level of 1000 kg/ha of chicken manure. The use of chicken manure, especially in arid and semi-arid areas, which mainly have low organic matter levels, in addition to increasing soil organic matter and availability of nutrients, can improve the physical, chemical, and biological characteristics of these soils. Also, the highest amount of growth traits was obtained with the use of the highest level of Soluptas, i.e. five per thousand. In the interaction effect of two investigated fertilizers, it was observed that the interaction of organic and chemical fertilizers caused a double effect on the investigated growth traits. The level of 2000 kg of chicken manure caused a 16.38% increase in the weight of a thousand fenugreek seeds compared to no fertilization. The weight of 1,000 seeds was 10.408 gr at the 5 per thousand Soluptas level and 8.906 gr at the non-fertilization level. Also, the interaction of chicken manure 2000 kg/ha with each level of Soluptas caused the highest number of pods in the fenugreek plant. The highest levels of both treatments caused an increase of 83.76% and 93.28% of seed and biological yield compared to no fertilization (control level).ConclusionIn general, it can be concluded that among the simple effects, the highest amount of traits was related to chicken manure, and among the investigated levels in two treatments, the highest yield of fenugreek dry matter was obtained with the consumption of 2000 kg/ha of chicken manure and 5 per thousand Soluptas.