Effects of Organic and Chemical N-Fertilization on Yield and Morphobiological Features in Coriander (Coriandrum sativum L.)

Although MAPs are subjected to a growing interest (from growers, transformation industries, public and private institutions), a full introduction of such species into the Mediterranean cropping systems still needs the pointing out of many aspects. An important task concerns some aspects of cropping technique, whose definition could allow these crops to optimize the yields (both from the qualitative and the quantitative point of view), also allowing the best exploitation of land resources. One of the most crucial aspects is linked to plant fertilization, above all with Nitrogen. The trial that we report the results of has been performed in 200304 and 2004-05 with the aim to study the effect on the major vegetative and productive parameters of Coriander (Coriandrum sativum L.) of various types and rates of N-fertilizer, both organic and chemical. Plant performance and productivity was deeply affected by the seasonal variability, whereas no significant effect was shown to be due to the different N rates. In terms of seeds yield, the results have shown the higher productivity of the plants fertilized with chemical, and in the first trial year the organic treatments had a yield even lower than the untreated Coriander.