EFFECT OF DIFFERENT APPLIED POTASSIUM SOURCES ON QUANTITY AND QUALITY OF GROUNDNUT CROP GROWN UNDER NEWLY RECLAIMED SANDY SOIL CONDITIONS

Document Type : Research articles.

Authors

Soils, Water and Environment Res. Inst., Agric. Res. Center, Giza, Egypt

Abstract

A field experiment was conducted on a newly reclaimed sandy soil
at the Experimental Farm of Ismaellia Agriculture Research Station
during a summer season of 2009 to study the effect of applied potassium
sulfate, as a mineral fertilizer, alone and its integrated with different Ksources,
i.e., vinasse (by-product of sugarcane complementary
industries) and wood ashes on groundnut yield and its components,
i.e.,
chemical constituents (i.e., macro and micro nutrients uptake by both
hays and seeds) and biochemical ones (
i.e., seed protein, oil and its
components of fatty acids). The effect of different applied K-sources on
some soil properties was taken into consideration in the current study.
The obtained results show that application of the tested K-sources
led to a significant increase for each of the studied plant parameters (
i.e.,
weight of 100 seed in g, weight of pods in kg fed-1, hay and seed yields
in kg fed
-1), chemical constituents (i.e., macro and micro nutrients uptake
by both hays and seeds) and biochemical ones (
i.e., seed protein, oil and
its components of fatty acids). Whilst the application of the tested Ksources had a greater effect on the aforementioned plant parameters,
particularly the combined treatments of potassium sulfate integrated with
vinasse followed by wood ashes, which were recorded the greatest
values, and potassium sulfate fertilizer alone.
As for response of soil properties to the applied treatments, the
obtained data reveal that the combined treatments of potassium sulfate
integrated with either vinasse or wood ashes resulted in a significant
decrease in each of soil pH and ECe values vs a significant increase in
each of soil content of organic matter and available nutrients of N, P and
K. Thus, it could be recommended that application of potassium sulfate
as a mineral fertilizer integrated with either vinasse or wood ashes as
combined treatments can be used for maximizing the profitability of
potassium sulfate in such newly reclaimed sandy soils, and in turn
increasing the yield of groundnut seeds and improving its quality.


Keywords