Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
BRAGANTIA, sa.84, ss.2-19, 2025 (SCI-Expanded, Scopus)
While drought negatively affects plant production, vermicompost and grafted seedlings offer a promising strategy to reduce these effects. This study, conducted in Ankara (greenhouse) and Antalya (field) provinces in 2020–2021, investigated the effects of grafting and vermicompost on morphophysiological traits, yield, and water efficiency of eggplant under drought stress. The greenhouse experiment was conducted in a factorial design (n = 3), and the field experiment was conducted using a split-split plot design (n = 3). In the greenhouse, grafted and non-grafted plants were subjected to three irrigation levels—100%, 70%: moderate stress (MS), 30%: severe stress (SS)—and vermicompost doses (0, 1, 2, 3%). Under MS conditions, grafted plants supplemented with 2% vermicompost showed significant improvements: shoot fresh weight increased by 48.81%, dry weight by 42.92%, shoot length by 49.52%, and stomatal conductance by 88.89%, while yield losses were reduced by 96% and irrigation water productivity improved by 62.79%. Field experiments applied the same irrigation levels (SS = 0.30 Epan, MS = 0.70 Epan, control = 1.00 Epan), and the optimal vermicompost dose (2%) identified in the greenhouse trials. Under MS, shoot fresh and dry weights increased by 121.20 and 162.18%, respectively, with total productivity rising by 101.13%. The innovative contribution of this study lies in its synergistic integration of grafting and vermicompost, two sustainable practices previously untested in eggplant cultivation to mitigate drought effects across both fields. The results demonstrated that this strategy reduces yield losses by 96% under severe stress and doubles productivity under moderate drought, offering a sustainable and environmentally friendly solution for water-limited agriculture.