Harnessing Sheep Wool Fertilizer to Enhance Lavandula officinalis Mill. Resilience to Salt Stress

Abstract

This study investigates the potential of sheep wool as an organic amendment to alleviate salinity stress and enhance the productivity of Lavandula officinalis in arid and semi-arid regions. A two-factor factorial design was employed under greenhouse conditions with five replications. The experiment tested varying levels of sheep wool fertilizer (SW) at concentrations of 0% (control), 0.5%, 1%, 2%, and 4%, alongside four salt concentrations: distilled water (control), 30 mM, 60 mM, and 90 mM NaCl. The study indicated that the application of sheep wool fertilizer significantly mitigated the adverse effects of NaCl on the growth, photosynthetic, and biochemical characteristics of L. officinalis. Increasing levels of sheep wool correlated with improved plant performance, while higher NaCl concentrations led to declines across all measured characteristics. Optimal performance was observed at the 2% SW treatment. Sheep wool fertilizer represents a promising strategy to enhance plant resilience in saline conditions. This study highlights the importance of optimizing sheep wool concentrations to maximize plant growth and stress tolerance. Future research should focus on investigating the long-term effects of different sheep wool doses and explore synergistic interactions with other organic amendments or bio-stimulants to improve agricultural sustainability in saline environments.