Natural Eggplant: More Fruit, Fewer Insects, Keeps Longer
Ahmad Jawid Zamany, Konkuk University, College of Life and Environmental Science, Dept. of Bio-resource and Food Science (student; advisor Kim Doo Hwan) · Afghanistan
The companion to the speaker's tomato trial: eggplant (cv. Black Horse) in Paju under Natural Science Farming, organic and conventional systems, same design. The natural plots gave the most marketable fruit, 4.08 kg per plant against 3.56 organic and 3.1 conventional, had far fewer insects, and their fruit took longer to spoil and scored higher for taste and Brix. One season, small plots.
What they found
How does eggplant perform under Natural Science Farming compared with organic and conventional (chemical) farming?
Paju district, Korea. Eggplant cv. Black Horse. Completely randomized design, 3 treatments, 5 replications, spacing 80 x 100 cm, 24 plants per treatment, plots 3 m x 6.40 m (19.2 m²), total area 290 m², the same layout as the speaker's tomato trial. Measured at 30, 60, 90 and 120 days after transplanting; Duncan's multiple range test (p ≤ 0.05). Dates, soil, and the inputs and rates for each system are not stated in this talk.
- Natural Science Farming — Not described in this talk; the speaker refers back to his tomato talk, where it was Microbes (IMO4) on the site, soil and seedling treatment, and natural farming solutions given by plant need.
- Organic farming — Organic fertilizer (type and rate not stated).
- Conventional farming — Chemical fertilizer (type and rate not stated).
-
Most marketable fruit: 4.08 kg/plant vs 3.56 organic and 3.1 conventional
Table 7. Total yield 4.3 vs 3.9 and 3.7 kg/plant; fruits per plant 38.4 vs 33.2 and 31.2. Natural differs from both; organic and conventional share a letter for total yield and fruit number.
▶ 4:11 Said and shown on the slides
-
Far fewer insects: incidence 1.9 vs 4.3 and 4.5 at 120 days
Table 8, lower at every stage (30 days: 1.0 vs 1.4 and 1.5). Severity, Table 9: 1.7 vs 2.9 organic and 4.1 conventional at 120 days. Scales not stated.
▶ 4:24 Said and shown on the slides
-
Fruit kept longer: 13.6 days to 10% spoilage vs 11.8 and 9.8
Table 10, at room temperature. Weight loss (PLW) 10.8% vs 13.4% organic and 15.0% conventional; all differ.
▶ 5:03 Said and shown on the slides
-
Better taste and appearance, higher Brix: 5.60 vs 4.96 and 4.90
Table 6: appearance 4.2 vs 3.2 and 2.9; taste 4.5 vs 3.6 and 3.4. Panel size and scale not stated.
▶ 3:30 Said and shown on the slides
-
Bigger roots: 38.2 cm and 98.0 cc vs 32.6 cm / 90.4 cc organic and 29.5 cm / 77.0 cc conventional
Table 5 at 60 days.
▶ 2:38 Said and shown on the slides
-
Heavier plants at 60 days: 794.2 g fresh, 158.6 g dry per plant
Table 3: organic 716.6 / 149.2 g, conventional 662.0 / 143.8 g.
▶ 1:47 Said and shown on the slides
-
More chlorophyll and carotenoid: total chlorophyll 178.96 vs 160.13 and 159.10 mg/100 g
Table 4; carotenoid 39.74 vs 32.94 and 33.67 mg/100 g.
▶ 2:17 Said and shown on the slides
-
Taller and leafier from 90 days on
Table 1, height: no difference at 30 and 60 days; 115.2 vs 110.4 and 109.2 cm at 90 days; 79.4 vs 75.2 and 76.4 at 120 days. Table 2, leaves: 118.6 vs 115.8 and 110.6 at 90 days; 51.2 vs 47.6 and 46.8 at 120 days. Unlike tomato, eggplant established quickly in the natural plots.
▶ 0:54 Said and shown on the slides
-
Less blossom end rot: 1.4 vs 2.4 and 3.1
Table 11. Sunscald (1.2, 1.4, 1.8) and cracking (1.1, 1.5, 1.9) not significant. Scale not stated.
▶ 5:36 Said and shown on the slides
- One season, one site, small plots (19.2 m², 5 replications).
- The inputs, rates and timing for each system are not given in this talk.
- Plant height and leaf numbers drop sharply from 90 to 120 days (e.g. 115.2 to 79.4 cm) with no explanation; pruning or a change in what was measured is possible.
- Scales for insects, taste, appearance and blossom end rot are not explained.
- The significance letter on conventional marketable yield is hard to read (b or c).
- In this trial the natural farming eggplants outyielded organic and chemical plots and carried far fewer insects.
- Fruit from the natural plots lost less weight and took about four days longer than conventional to reach 10% spoilage at room temperature.
- Unlike tomato, eggplant did not lag early under natural farming.
Next to Master Cho's teaching
-
Agrees
Better storage and sweetness without chemicals Cho lists low sugar, poor color and weak storability among the problems of chemical-heavy farming. The trial's longer shelf life and higher Brix fit.
Cho, Janong Natural Farming (2003), p. 85
-
Agrees
Fewer insects on natural plants Cho: pests flourish when crops are acidic or carry excess nitrogen. The trial measured fewer insects but not plant nitrogen.
Cho, Janong Natural Farming (2003), p. 164
-
Agrees
Microbes (IMO4) on the soil and bigger roots Cho's recipe: spread IMO4 over the field a week before transplanting; the soil warms, softens and builds aggregate structure. The speaker credits better soil for the longer roots.
Cho recipe book (scan), p. 6
-
Unclear
Nitrogen for eggplant Cho says eggplant, picked unripe, needs enough nitrogen or yield and quality drop, unlike tomato. This talk does not say how the eggplant was fed, so the two cannot be compared.
Cho, Janong Natural Farming (2010 draft), p. 67
“The plant was good, was strong, so it didn't attract the insect.”
▶ 4:36
“So the natural fruits we can keep longer than others.”
▶ 5:12
In this talk
Transcript
Transcribed and checked by hand against the recording. Click any time to play from there.
0:00 So I have two presentations. I did two experiments. One is tomato and another one is eggplant. So I am going to present the next presentation. So for this presentation I am going to go direct to the results, because before we had the introduction and materials and methods. This is the material and the brief information of the experiment regarding eggplant. This is the general view of the experiment.
0:54 So in eggplant, the establishment of plants didn't take too much time like in tomatoes. So the plant height at the first stage of the growth and second stage of the growth statistically was the same. There were no significant differences between the plant height. But in the third stage and fourth stage, the plant height was higher with the natural than others. In this table, we have the number of leaves per plant. The number of leaves per plant at the first stage is the same statistically, but the second,
1:40 third, and fourth stage, we have more number of leaves per plant in natural than others. And in this table we can see the plant biomass, fresh and dry. The highest fresh weight and highest dry weight was recorded with the natural than others. So that means the plant grew well, had a lot of branches, had more number of leaves, plant was more stronger. This table shows us the total chlorophyll content. It's like tomatoes.
2:26 The total chlorophyll content was high and total carotenoid content was high in the plant. So that means the plant was healthier than organic and conventional. In this table, we can see the root length and root volume of eggplant. So again, when the soil condition is good, plants produce a lot of roots, longer roots. So the highest root was recorded with the natural and the root volume was also high with the natural.
3:13 In this picture we can see the eggplants which are uprooted from the different systems. Here we have the quality parameters of the eggplant. The appearance, shape, color were more acceptable for the consumer. They accepted it better than organic and conventional. And the taste as well as the Brix was higher with the natural. Here we can see the fruits of eggplant from different systems.
4:06 This is the yield parameters of the eggplant. The highest number of fruits, total yield and marketable yield was higher with the natural than other systems. Here we have the insect incidence. The insect incidence was less with the natural than other systems. That means the plant was good, was strong, so it didn't attract the insect. And also the insect severity was less. When the insect incidence is less, so the
4:54 severity is also less Here we have the shelf life of the fruit. So we studied for how long we can keep the fruits at room temperature. So the natural fruits we can keep longer than others. I don't It's a good part of the natural fruits. And as well, they lose their weight. Here again we have the physiological
5:40 disorders of the eggplant. Blossom end rot is a very hard thing in tomatoes, eggplant and pepper. So here we have less blossom end rot in eggplant compared to the other systems. So by this slide, I'm going to finish my presentation. Thank you so much.