THE EFFECT OF DIFFERENT COMPOST APPLICATIONS ON ORGANICALLY PRODUCED RED PEPPER (Capsicum annuum L.): I. FIRST SEASON RESULTS FOR YIELD, FRUIT QUALITY AND NUTRIENTS

The research was carried out at the Aegean Agricultural Research Institute open field experimental area located in the Mediterranean region. The aim of this paper is to evaluate the effects of a green manure crop (common vetch-barley mixture), compost (composted residues of various vegetables), farmyard manure, turkey manure and certified commercial organic manure on yield, some fruit quality parameters, fruit and leaf nutrient levels, and leaf chlorophyll content of red pepper (Capsicum annuum L.). In this paper first- year (2002) results are discussed. Most of the observed characteristics (yield, morphological characteristics, titratable acidity, total soluble solids, dry matter, vitamin C, fructose, nitrate, nitrite, N, P, K, Ca) were increased significantly by the applications. However, fruit pH, -glucose, -glucose and sucrose contents were not affected by the treatments. The highest yield, 29.7 ton/ha, was obtained with farmyard manure (20 ton/ha) plus the green manure crop. Of the leaf characteristics, chlorophyll-a, chlorophyll-b and total chlorophyll showed significant differences when compared with the controls (untreated and chemical). In addition, N, P, K, Ca, Mg, Zn, and Mn contents of leaf samples were significantly affected by the treatments.