IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jagris/v14y2024i1p97-d1313082.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Dynamics of Agronomic Characteristics and Plant Diversity in Lemon Verbena ( Aloysia citrodora Paláu) Cultivation in Greece

Author

Listed:
  • Aikaterini Molla

    (Hellenic Republic, Ministry of Rural Development and Food, Acharnon 2 Street, 10176 Athens, Greece)

  • Alexandra D. Solomou

    (Hellenic Agricultural Organization “Demeter”, Institute of Mediterranean & Forest Ecosystems, Terma Alkmanos, 11528 Athens, Greece)

  • Miltiadis Tziouvalekas

    (Institute of Industrial and Forage Crops, Hellenic Agricultural Organization—DEMETER, 41335 Larissa, Greece)

  • Alexios Lolas

    (Laboratory of Marine Biology, Department of Agriculture, Ichthyology and Aquatic Environment, University of Thessaly, 38446 Volos, Greece)

  • Elpiniki Skoufogianni

    (Laboratory of Agronomy and Applied Crop Physiology, Department of Agriculture, Crop Production and Rural Environment, University of Thessaly, 38446 Volos, Greece)

Abstract

Nowadays, there is an increasing negative environmental effect of using chemical fertilizer. For this reason, the use of biofertilizers is promoted in the agriculture sector. The purpose of this investigation was to carry out an evaluation of the effects of biological fertilizer (biofertilizers are organic materials that can be used to improve soil properties) use on the growth and agronomic characteristics of Aloysia citrodora . To achieve this aim, a two-year randomized complete blocks field experiment was carried out in central Greece. The experiment included four biological fertilizer levels (0, 50, 100 and 150 N kg ha −1 ) with three replications. Plant height, dry stem, dry leaves, dry total yield and leaf area index (LAI) were measured during the two growing years. The results showed that in the first and second studied years, the maximum plant height and total dry yield were observed in the BF150 treatment. Moreover, LAI was ameliorated by applying the BF100 and BF150 treatments in both studied years. A key finding in this study is that the A. citrodora ecosystem favors herbaceous plant species richness. Also, soil factors (soil organic matter, P and K) promote positive herbaceous plant diversity within the A. citrodora ecosystem. Finally, A. citrodora could be a promising medicinal plant, cultivated under Mediterranean climatic conditions.

Suggested Citation

  • Aikaterini Molla & Alexandra D. Solomou & Miltiadis Tziouvalekas & Alexios Lolas & Elpiniki Skoufogianni, 2024. "Dynamics of Agronomic Characteristics and Plant Diversity in Lemon Verbena ( Aloysia citrodora Paláu) Cultivation in Greece," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 14(1), pages 1-14, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jagris:v:14:y:2024:i:1:p:97-:d:1313082
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/14/1/97/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/14/1/97/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Alexian Cheminal & Ioannis P. Kokkoris & Anastasios Zotos & Arne Strid & Panayotis Dimopoulos, 2022. "Assessing the Ecosystem Services Potential of Endemic Floras: A Systematic Review on the Greek Endemics of Peloponnese," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(10), pages 1-26, May.
    2. Alexandra D. Solomou & Evangelia Korakaki & Evangelia V. Avramidou & Stefanos Boutsios & Spyridon Oikonomidis & Evangelia Daskalakou, 2023. "Assessment of Herbaceous Plant Composition, Diversity, and Indicator Species in the Juniperus drupacea Forest Openings of the Mountain Parnonas in Greece," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(18), pages 1-20, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Konstantinos Kougioumoutzis & Maria Tsakiri & Ioannis P. Kokkoris & Panayiotis Trigas & Gregoris Iatrou & Fotini N. Lamari & Dimitris Tzanoudakis & Eleni Koumoutsou & Panayotis Dimopoulos & Arne Strid, 2024. "Assessing the Vulnerability of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants to Climate and Land-Use Changes in a Mediterranean Biodiversity Hotspot," Land, MDPI, vol. 13(2), pages 1-29, January.
    2. Ioannis P. Kokkoris & Konstantinos Kougioumoutzis & Ioannis Charalampopoulos & Ektor Apostolidis & Ilias Apostolidis & Arne Strid & Panayotis Dimopoulos, 2023. "Conservation Responsibility for Priority Habitats under Future Climate Conditions: A Case Study on Juniperus drupacea Forests in Greece," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(11), pages 1-17, October.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jagris:v:14:y:2024:i:1:p:97-:d:1313082. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.