Response of wheat to potassium fertilization under field conditions

Saifullah; Ranjha, A.M.; Yaseen, M.; Akhtar, E.,University of Agriculture,Faisalabad . Dept. of Soil Sciences

Response of wheat to potassium fertilization under field conditions

2002

Saifullah | Ranjha, A.M. | Yaseen, M. | Akhtar, E.,University of Agriculture,Faisalabad (Pakistan). Dept. of Soil Sciences

Fertilizers constitute an integral part of improved crop productiontechnology. In countries like Pakistan, the nutrient use is imbalanced, particularlyfor potash, which is requirement of Pakistan soils, as increasing croppingintensity is continuously exhausting soils of the K reserves. Therefore a fieldexperiment was conducted at Soil Salinity Research Institute, Pindi Bhattianduring (2000-2001) in salt- affected (pH 8.6, EC 5.2 dS m-1 SAR, 24.6 and Kext 86mg kg-1) sandy loam soil on wheat to observe its response to applied K-fertilizer.Five treatments (0, 75, 150, 225, 300 kg K2O ha-1) were tested in the presence of140 kg ha-1 N and 110 kg ha-1 P2O5. The crop was irrigated with tube well waterand all the cultural practices were kept uniform for each treatment. The resultsindicated that 225 kg ha-1 K2O application increased significantly number oftillers plant-1, number of grains spike-1, 1000-grain weight, grain and strawyield. The highest yield was recorded at 225 kg ha-1 of potash application.Increase in rate from 225 kg K2O ha-1 decreased all the growth parametersstudied. Potassium application significantly affected uptake of nitrogen andphosphorus in straw as well as grain of wheat. Similarly Application of potassiumsignificantly affected sodium concentration in both grain and straw of wheat,maximum concentration being at control. Potassium concentration increased byincreasing rate of potash application up to 225 kg K2O ha-1. Post harvest soiltests indicated that there was a build up of K with increasing dose of Kfertilizer.

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