Sustainable management of water resources and land in the production of pepper in the greenhouse

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of irrigation level, soil type, and microbial biostimulants on fruit weight and fruit number per plant of the pepper genotype "Moravska lepotica". The experiment was conducted during 2025 in the greenhouse of the Institute for Vegetables Crops Smederevska Palanka, on land originating from three locations important for the production of peppers in Serbia (Ruski Krstur, Donja Lokošnica and Smederevska Palanka). The experiment included a control treatment and three treatments with biostimulators (Azoter F - Trichoderma atroviride, Biofor active and Folisu) in three repetitions with 10 plants per treatment. Statistical analysis (ANOVA) showed a significant effect of factors and the interaction of irrigation × locality × treatment on fruit weight per plant. The highest fruit weight per plant (110.95 g) was measured at the full irrigation norm on the land from Donja Lokošnica in the Biofor active treatment. In contrast, at the reduced norm, the highest value (86.45 g) was recorded on land from Smederevska Palanka. The lowest average weight (32.22 g) was measured on the soil from Ruski Krstur in the Azoter F treatment at 50% of the irrigation norm. At the reduced irrigation norm, the highest number of fruits was obtained on Ruski Krstur with Azoter F (8.7) and Folis (7.8), while the control yielded the fewest (4.5).