Evaluate the usefulness of humic acid organic matter in comparison to chemical fertilizer and manure and their combination in summer savory (Satureja hortensis L.)

Today, the use of organic fertilizers is increasing. The humic substances are a mixture of various organic compounds that are derived from the remains of plants and or animals.Humic acid is one of the compounds that today are widely used in research as well as commercial uses. The plant grown in soils that have enough humic substances, are less influenced by stress, will produce healthier plant and more product. Summer Savory (Satureja hortensis L.) is an annual plant that is widely cultivated. Essential oil of this plant has antimicrobial properties and inhibits the growth of some bacteria. All vegetative shoots contain essential oil which has antimicrobial, anti-oxidant and anti-fungal. In order to investigate the organic matter of humic acid in comparison to chemical fertilizer and manure, a research was carried out in years 2009-2011 for 3 years in Khojir research station a form of a randomized complete block design with six treatments and 3 replications. The treatments included humic acid, fertilizer (N100P80K100), manure (30 ton/ha), humic acid mixture with half fertilizer, humic acid mixture with 10 tons/ha of manure compared with the control. According to the results, the use of humic acid increased significantly in most of the studied traits such as root length, plant height, number of lateral branches, leaf dry weight in plant, shoot dry weight, shoot fresh weight, dry shoot yield, essential oil yield, seed yield compared to control. Chemical fertilizer with 28.88 kg, manure with 27.41 kg, humic acid with 23.34 kg, mixture of humic acid with chemical fertilizer with 22.19 kg and mixture of humic acid manure with 22.92 kg per hectare had significantly increase in essential oil yield than the control group (16.87 kg). Thus in summer savory cultivation, the humic acid consumption due to increased dry matter yield and essential oil yield, is recommended.