In the conventional agricultural systems, the excessive use of chemical inputs, such as chemical fertilizers, increased the agricultural productivity. Detrimental implications from intensive agricultural practices and long-term use of chemical fertilizers have been well evidenced on the environment and human health. Intercropping system and application of organic fertilizers and biofertilizers including vermicompost and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) are recommended in the development of sustainable agricultural systems. The objectives were evaluating the effect of different fertilizer sources on the quantity and quality characteristics of Salvia officinalis L.
Materials and methods
The experiment consisted of two successive phases at the Miandoab, Iran in 2019-2020. The first was cultivation of spring green manure until the soft dough stage of barley and flowering stage of hairy vetch then returned to the soil, and the second phase was cultivation of medicinal plant of sage. Two species, barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) and hairy vetch (Vicia villosa), were used as green manure. In second phase, a field experiment study was carried out as split plot in time based on a randomized complete block design (RCBD) with 16 treatments and three replications. The main plot factor was eight different fertilizer sources including control (C), barley monoculture (B), hairy vetch monoculture (V), 75% V + 25% B, 50% V + 50% B and 25% V + 75% B, AMF: arbuscular mycorrhizal fungus (Rhizophagus intraradices) and vermicompost. Also the sub plot factor was harvesting time (first and second harvest). In AM fungi treatments, 80 g of the soil containing mycorrhizal fungi hyphae and the remains of the root and spores was added to soil in planting times. Also, vermicompost (2 t ha-1) was applied to the soil before planting. Analysis of variance of the data and mean comparison based on least significant difference (LSD) test and interaction effect slicing of different fertilizer sources × ha