Application Effect of Chlorella Fusca CHK0059 as a Biofertilizer for Strawberry Cultivation

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Green algae (Chlorella spp.) has been widely used as a biofertilizer to improve the crop yield and quality. However, available information is not enough to verify the mechanism of green algae’s beneficial impact on strawberry. This study was conducted to investigate the effect of Chlorella fusca CHK005 application on the growth and nutrient status of strawberry plant and fruit characteristics. METHODS AND RESULTS: A total of 800 seedlings of strawberry variety ‘Kuemsil’ were planted. Once a week, C. fusca culture solution (1.0 × 107 cells mL-1) was applied into soil via irrigation in four different concentrations: no application (control), 1/1000 times (× 0.5), 1/500 times (× 1), and 1/250 times (× 2). Result showed that growth of strawberry plant was enhanced by Chlorella application and the highest impact on fresh weight (FW) and chlorophyll content of the plants were observed in × 2 treatment, followed by × 1, × 0.5, and control treatments. The phosphorus (P) concentration in the plant was significantly higher in × 1 and × 2 treatments compared to control. In case of fruit quality, sugar content (°Brix), hardness, and FW were lowest in control, but these values increased as application levels of Chlorella were higher. Also, P and K contents in the fruits increased with increasing the application levels and significant correlation between P content and oBrix in the fruits was found. CONCLUSION(S): Overall, Chlorella application seemed to improve plant growth and fruit quality by increasing the utilization efficiency of P and K in strawberries. These two authors contributed equally to this work. * Corresponding author: Yong Bok Lee Phone: +82-55-772-1967; Fax: +82-55-772-1969; E-mail: yblee@gnu.ac.kr Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture Korean J Environ Agric. 2022;41(4):282-287, https://doi.org/10.5338/KJEA.2022.41.4.34 Online ISSN: 2233-4173 Published online 18 December 2022, Printed 31 December 2022 Print ISSN: 1225-3537 딸기재배를 위한 생물비료로 Chlorella fusca CHK0059의 시비효과 김영남, 최준혁, 김송엽, 최현지, 신예림, 윤영은, 이금아, 김민정, 이용복 경상국립대학교 응용생명과학부(BK21), 경상국립대학교 농업생명과학연구원(IALS), 농촌진흥청 국립농업과학원 유기농업과 Application Effect of Chlorella Fusca CHK0059 as a Biofertilizer for Strawberry Cultivation Young-Nam Kim, Jun Hyeok Choi, Song Yeob Kim, Hyeonji Choe, Yerim Shin, Young-Eun Yoon, Keum-Ah Lee, Min-Jeong Kim, Yong Bok Lee (Division of Applied Life Science (BK21), Gyeongsang National University, Jinju 52828, Korea, Institute of Agriculture and Life Science (IALS), Gyeongsang National University, Jinju 52828, Korea, Organic Agriculture Division, National Academy of Agriculture Science, Rural Development Administration, Wanju 55365, Korea) Received: 23 November 2022/ Revised: 7 December 2022/ Accepted: 11 December 2022 Copyright c 2022 The Korean Society of Environmental Agriculture This is an Open-Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.