Abstract

Vetiver essential oil is appreciated in perfumery, but its cultivation directly in the soil is detrimental to the harvesting process of its roots, as they are deep and dense, making it difficult to remove them from the soil. This work aimed to verify the influence of agroindustrial waste on the plant development of vetiver, grown in reused bags, filled with inert material to facilitate harvesting of the roots. Four agroindustrial waste doses (18, 36, 54 and 72L per bag) and the control treatment were evaluated, with four replications and five seedlings planted in each bag. After 90 days of planting the seedlings, the Largest Leaf Height (LLH) and Clamp Diameter (CD) were measured at 5cm from the ground. For LLH means there was no statistical difference. In CD measurements, control treatment was statistically equal only to the treatment with the lowest dose of waste and other treatments did not show statistical difference between them, with 95% significance, and the highest average CD was of the highest dose tested (72 L) of agroindustrial waste added to the bags, indicating its beneficial effect on vetiver cultivation.

Keywords: Vetiver grass; Chrysopogon zizanioides; Fertilizing; Essential oil; Growing conditions