Cotton Response to Tillage and Soil and Foliar Applied Potassium Fertilization
Cotton Response to Tillage and Soil and Foliar Applied Potassium Fertilization
Muhammad Waqas Imam Malik1, Khalid Usman1*, Amir Hamza1, Muhammad Saad1, Said Ghulam2 and Azmat Ullah1
ABSTRACT
In the scenario of recent energy crises, enhancement of yield at a reduced tillage cost and site specific potassium nutrition is much important for higher cotton yield and lint quality. The experiment was in a split-plot design and replicated thrice. Tillage system (i.e. reduced and conventional) was main plot treatment and potassium levels (0, 50, 100, 150, 200 & 250 kg ha-1) sub-plot. K-levels were applied 50, 100, 150, 200, and 200 kg ha-1 as soil application treatments and 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 as a foliar application of 2% K2SO4 solution at peak boll formation stage. Results revealed that tillage did not influence yield and quality attributes of cotton; however, potassium levels significantly affected yield and quality traits except fiber micronaire. Potassium fertilizer (soil-applied) at 250 kg ha-1 along with five foliar sprays of K2SO4 produced higher plant height, sympodial branches plant-1, bolls plant-1, 100 cotton seed weight, seed cotton yield, ginning outturn, fiber length, and fiber strength compared to other K-levels. Moreover, tillage × potassium interaction indicated that reduced tillage along with 250 kg K ha-1 plus 5 foliar sprays was superior to conventional tillage for producing higher sympodial branches, bolls plant-1, seed cotton yield, and ginning outturn (%).
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September 2022
Vol. 38, Iss. 3, Pages 759-1159
