Abstract:

The study aims to explore the effects of oyster shell powder soil conditioner on soil physicochemical property and growth and quality of eggplant, and to select the optimal application amount in eggplant field cultivation. We chose ‘Nongyou 704’ as the test object, set conventional fertilization as CK and the oyster shell powder application levels of 750 kg/hm²(T₁), 1500 kg/hm²(T₂), 2250 kg/hm²(T₃), 3000 kg/hm²(T₄), 3750 kg/hm²(T₅) as different treatments. The results showed that different soil conditioner doses could increase the chlorophyll content and plant height of eggplants, promote the development of eggplant fruits. The eggplants chlorophyll content (in the bud stage), plant height (in the bud stage), single fruit weight, and fruit longitudinal diameter of T₄ treatment were significantly higher than CK with the increases of 3.25%, 7.24%, 8.50% and 5.75%, respectively. There was a certain improvement in the quality of eggplant fruit, with an increase of 2.3%-13.7% in calcium content compared to CK. Applying oyster shell powder as a soil conditioner could reduce soil particle density, increase the content of nitrogen and potassium elements in the soil, and increase the content of available nutrients in the soil. The content of alkali hydrolyzed nitrogen and available potassium increased by 6.98% (T₅) and 42.39% (T₄) compared to CK, respectively. According to principal component analysis, the application amount of oyster shell powder soil conditioner 3000 kg/hm² is the most suitable amount for eggplant field production and cultivation.

Key words: eggplant, oyster shell powder, soil conditioner, quality, agronomic traits, physicochemical properties of soil