Abstract:
Biostimulants (chitosan and biozyme) are emerging category of products that target to increase the production of strawberry (Fragaria x ananassa Duch) and are used as alternative to agrochemicals. This is due to the growing concern of consumers on healthy and safe products. With the exclusion of agrochemicals in strawberry production, the yield has declined by 5-34% due to limited nutrition. The objective of this study was to investigate the response of biozyme and chitosan rates on the growth, yield and quality of strawberry fruit at Horticulture Research and Teaching Farm (Field 3) of Egerton University, Njoro, Kenya. The experimental design was randomized complete block design with nine treatments replicated three times. The treatments were; control (distilled water), 25ppm chitosan, 50ppm chitosan, 25ppm biozyme, 25ppm biozyme+25ppm chitosan, 25ppm biozyme+50ppm chitosan, 50ppm biozyme, 50ppm biozyme+25ppm chitosan, 50ppm biozyme+50ppm chitosan. The results obtained shows that the combination use of 25ppm biozyme and 25ppm chitosan significantly influenced the growth, yield and quality of strawberry plant. Maximum number of leaves, leaf length, leaf width, plant height, flower number, fruits number, fruit weight, fruit length, fruit diameter, total soluble solids and shelf-life was achieved with the use of 25ppm biozyme and 25ppm of chitosan in combination. Titratable acidity of strawberry fruits was lowest with the application of 25ppm biozyme and 25ppm of chitosan in combination. Thus, findings from the current study indicate that biozyme and chitosan at their lowest rates could be used as environment-friendly alternatives for sustainable production of high quality strawberry. Therefore, the recommendation was that the combination use of 25ppm biozyme and 25ppm chitosan can be used as foliar spray in the growth and development of strawberry plants thus high strawberry fruit yield.
