PJB-2020-282
RESPONSE OF MAIZE TO ORGANIC AND INORGANIC POTASSIUM FERTILIZATION
AKHTAR ALI
Abstract
RESPONSE OF MAIZE TO ORGANIC AND INORGANIC POTASSIUM FETILIZATION ¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬AKHTAR ALI* AND ASAD ALI KHAN Department of Agronomy, Faculty of Crop Production Sciences The University of Agriculture, Peshawar-Pakistan *Corresponding author’s email: akhtarali@aup.edu.pk ABSTRACT Fertilizer is the key input for sustainable crop production for the growing World under the current cropland. Among the essential nutrients, potassium has a primitive role in crop growth, development and yield. Evaluating this effect of potassium on maize, an experiment was conducted during kharif 2017 and 2018 at agronomy research farm, The University of Agriculture Peshawar to study the response of hybrid maize (CS-200) to potassium sources i.e. potassium chloride, potassium sulfate, farm yard manure, poultry manure and potassium levels i.e. 30, 60, 90 and 120 kg K ha-1. One control replication-1 was kept for its comparison with rest treatments. Control vs rest arrangements were used for conducting the experiment in randomized complete block design with 4 replications. Seeds were sown in rows 70 cm apart with 25 cm inter plant spacing with in the row. Potassium chloride significantly improved grains cob-1 (394.35), heavier grains (298.37 g), more grain yield (4949 kg ha-1), while both organic sources exhibit statistically similar grains cob-1 (383.60), grain weight (282.82 g) and grain yield (4356 kg ha-1). Potassium chloride exhibits more grain crude protein content (9.21 %), more grain K content (0.54 %), higher soil available K (158.91 mg kg-1), higher leaf water content (91.53 %) and reduction in water lost after 90 minutes (61.93 %) interval. Potassium application at the rate of 120 kg ha-1 produce more heavier grains (297.18 g), more grain nitrogen (1.63 %), grain protein (9.29 %), soil available K (162.39 mg kg-1) and more leaf relative water status (90.34 %). Statistically similar results were observed by 90 and 120 kg K ha-1 for grain yield (4859 kg ha-1), grains K content (0.59 %) and reduction in water lost from cut leaf surfaces after 90 minutes (60 %). Potassium chloride significantly improved yield, yield components, physiology and grain quality along with maximum net returns (PKR 197718/- ha-1) with higher value cost ratio (4.53). Potassium applied at the rate of 90 and 120 kg ha-1 enhanced growth, yield, yield components, physiology and grain quality. Application of potassium at the rate of 90 kg ha-1 from potassium chloride was more economical for improving growth, phenology, yield, yield components, physiology, grain quality and is thus recommended for maize production in the agro-climatic conditions of Peshawar valley. Keywords: Relative water content, excised leaf water loss, yield, grain quality.
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