Agronomic Viability of Mentha piperita Under Quantities and Forms of Application of the Organic Fertilization in the Semiarid of Brazil

Abstract

The use of available resources in the property is of paramount importance for the sustainability of the system. In this sense, the objective was to study the agronomic viability of mint Mentha piperita under amounts and forms of application of the organic fertilization in the semiarid of Brazil. The experiment was conducted at the experimental farm Rafael Fernandes in the period from August 2017 to November 2017, in the Alagoinha district, rural area of Mossoró-RN. The experimental design was a randomized complete block design in a 5 × 2 factorial scheme, with four replications. The first factor consisted of the quantities of the mixture of jitirana plus bovine manure (0.0, 1.4, 2.8, 4.2 and 5.6 kg m-2), the second factor was composed by the way of handling the mixture of jitirana and bovine manure (incorporated and in cover). For the mint crop, the cultivar Mentha piperita was planted. The following characteristics were evaluated: biomass height, green mass production; number of bunches; dry mass production; oil content and oil production. No interaction was observed between the amounts of organic fertilization in the forms of management of organic fertilization in the characteristics evaluated. The best agronomic performance of mint was observed in the amount of 4.2 kg m-2, with green mass production of 1.5 kg m-2, equivalent to 16.4 units m-2. Organic fertilization becomes viable option to be used in the fertilization of the mint.