Deutscher Tropentag, October 9 - 11, 2002 in Kassel-Witzenhausen "Challenges to Organic Farming and Sustainable Land Use in the Tropics and Subtropics"

Comparison of Conventional and Organic Grown Fennel in Egypt

¹National Research Centre, Egypt
²Federal Agricultural Research Centre (FAL), Institute of Plant Nutrition and Soil Science, Germany

Abstract

Bitter fennel (Foeniculum vulgare Mill.) is an important crop for small farming in Egypt. Seeds are used as raw material for medical and aromatic products especially for export to Europe. Due to these uses connected with high quality demands the processors prefer seeds grown according to the standards of the EU directive 2092/91 for organic products. This means strict regulations for the use of fertilizers like no mineral nitrogen, no soluble phosphates and only raw potassium should be used for growing crops.
Field trials on two sites, newly reclaimed land, sandy soil (Sekem) and intensively used old cultivated soil (Nile valley) were conducted to prove the consequences for the farmers from an economic point of view and the impact on the seed quality due to different farming systems. Fertilization practices have been compared using plant nutrients like in conventinal farming, ammonium nitrate, super phosphate and potassium sulfate in comparison with practices in organic farming either compost, compost plus Azotobacter (for better mineralisation) or chicken manure for nitrogen supply, rock phosphate or rock phosphate plus elemental sulfur for phosphor and sulfur supply and feldspar for potassium supply. Experiments have been done during two growing seasons 1998/1999 and 1999/2000.
Results showed that conventional farming practices generally gave the highest yields for seeds and oil (3.1-3.4 t seeds/ha and 71-86 l oil/ha) but compost plus Azotobacter as nitrogen source, rockphosphate plus sulfur and feldspar for potassium supply gave similar results (3-3.3 t seeds/ha and 60-82 l oil/ha). The composition of the essential oil had not been influenced substantially by the two different farming systems (no statistically significant differences could be found).
Thus it can be recommended that farmers in Egypt might grow fennel due to organic farming practices without substantial loss of income.

Keywords: Foeniculum vulgare, oil composition, oil yield, organic farming, seed yield

Contact Address: Ewald Schnug, Federal Agricultural Research Centre (FAL), Institute of Plant Nutrition and Soil Science, Bundesallee 50, 38116 Braunschweig, Germany, e-mail: ewald.schnugfal.de