THE IMPACT OF BIOFERTILISERS ON THE QUALITY PARAMETERS OF THE PEPPER FRUIT (CAPSICUM ANNUUM L.) IN ORGANIC AGRICULTURE CONDITIONS

Organic agriculture, as a way of thinking and practice, originated in the first years of the XX century upon the application of various alternative methods of agricultural production. This experiment was carried out in 2009- 2011 on the fields of the Agroecological Centre at the Agricultural University - Plovdiv, situated on the territory of the certified ecological farm. The research included pepper variety 'Sofiiska Kapiya' cultivated as mid- early field production according to the principles of organic agriculture. The following biofertilisers were tested: Seasol (Earthcare), applied on two basic fertilisations, namely: Boneprot and Lumbrical. The objectives of the study were to establish the impact of biofertilisers on the quality parameters of the pepper fruits (dry matter, total sugars and vitamin C). The dry matter content of pepper fruits showed the highest values in 2009 and 2011, when the average for the period was 8,87 % and was shown by the variant fed with the biofertiliser Seasol on basic fertilisation Lumbrical. The total sugar content in the pepper fruits showed a maximum value of 7,22 % as the average for the study period and after application of the biofertiliser Seasol on the basic fertilisation Lumbrical. The combined application of the biofertiliser Seasol on the two basic fertilisations showed higher values of the total sugars in comparison with the single application of the basic fertilisations in optimum concentrations. The average for the period vitamin C content in fruits showed highest value upon application of the biofertiliser Seasol on the basic fertilisation Boneprot, i.e. 159,2 mg%, thus determining this combination as useful for vegetative feeding. The values of all treatments exceeded the control, thus confirming the beneficial impact of biofertilisers with respect to the improvement of pepper quality under organic management.