Grain Quality of Medicinal Pumpkin (Cucurbita pepo subsp. Pepo var. styriaca) Affected by Type and Amount of Fertilizers

Abstract

A field experiment was conducted at the Research Farm of Kurdistan University of Iran. Fourteen compositions of bio, organic and chemical fertilizers were done as treatments. Results showed that maximum seed (118.5 g.m^-2) and fruit yield (6056.2 g.m^-2) were obtained when pumpkin inoculated with nitrogen fixing and phosphate solubilizing bacteria + 50 % organic fertilizer. Maximum protein content (33.05 and 32.66 %) was obtained by inoculation of seeds with nitrogen fixing bacteria + 50 % chemical fertilizer and free-living nitrogen fixing bacteria + phosphate solubilizing bacteria + 50 % chemical fertilizer, respectively. The highest oil yield was obtained by a mixture of two biofertilizers + 50 % organic fertilizer (48.31 g.m^-2) and the lowest oil yield (12.22 g.m^-2) was resulted with control treatment.

Key words:

• Fertilizers
• biofertilizers
• compost
• yield
• pumpkin