Use of Olive-Mill Wastewater for the Containment of Phelipanche ramosa in Open Field of Processing Tomato Crop

Phelipanche ramosa (L.) Pomel is a root holoparasitic weed that infested many crops, particularly the processing tomato. In semi-arid regions of the world, this problem is increasing, both in intensity and in acreages. In the last few years, researches for the control of this parasite has increased its effort to use suitable methods, as well as the utilization of natural compounds. In this regard, four experimental trials were carried out over three growing seasons (2014, 2016 and 2017), at Foggia (Apulia Region, Southern Italy), in the open field, on processing tomato (cv. “Dres”) crop, infested by P. ramosa, where the olive-mill wastewater (OMW) was incorporated into the soil at the dose of 80 m3 ha-1 40 days prior to tomato seedling transplant in comparison with the untreated control. The numbers of P. ramosa emerged shoots (branched plants) were significantly lower in the OMW treatment than in the untreated control. The tomato marketable yield showed a significantly higher value in the OMW treatment than the untreated control. No significant differences for the fruit qualitative characteristics were observed.