ISHS Acta Horticulturae 502: II WOCMAP Congress Medicinal and Aromatic Plants, Part 3: Agricultural Production, Post Harvest Techniques, Biotechnology
AROMATIC PLANT CULTURE IN OPEN-AIR HYDROPONICS |
| Author: | S.K. Mairapetyan |
| Keywords: | Essential oil, substratum, nutrient solution, rose geranium, (Pelargonium roseum Willd.), soilless culture |
| Abstract:
Starting from 1965 physiological, agrochemical basis and effectiveness of a number of valuable aromatic plant (Pelargonium roseum, Cymbopogon citratus, Ocimum gratissimum, Vetiveria zizanioides, Nepeta transcaucasica etc.) soilless cultivation has been studied at the Institute of Hydroponics Problems (Armenia). The possibility, high efficiency and economical benefit of shifting from labour-consuming, expensive traditional culture of aromatic plants, to industrial production in open-air and greenhouse hydroponic fields, over the surfaces unfit for traditional agriculture, has been proved. Experiments have shown that hydroponically grown aromatic plants have higher productivity, in addition to accumulate 3–6 times more essential oil per unit of feeding surface, compared with field grown ones. The root environment of hydroponic plants is abundantly provided with water, nutrients and air, with a corresponding increase of the metabolic and absorbing activity of roots, which, in its turn, initiates development of plant overground part with increasing biological and economical productivity several folds. It is shown that this is accompanied by some physiological and biochemical changes in the plant, e.g. some increase of chlorophyll and essential oil content, drastic increase of hydroponic field photosynthetic potential, early development of maximal assimilation surface, etc. Besides, water and labour expenses per tonne of crops significantly decrease, efficiency of sun energy increases, and finally, hard and labour consuming work such as cultivation, loosening, weeding, irrigation etc. are eliminated. So, new, progressive and automated biotechnology of phyto-stuff production comes to substitute conventional agrotechnics. | |
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