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Interpretive Summaries:
2005 - On-Farm Research on Potassium Fertilization in Rainfed Pulses
2004 - On-farm Research on Potassium Fertilization in Rainfed Pulses
2003 - On-farm Research on Potassium Fertilization in Rainfed Pulses
On-farm Research on Potassium Fertilization in Rainfed Pulses, 2004
Currently, Tamil Nadu has 1 million ha of area under pulse crop cultivation. The productivity of pulses under rainfed Vertisol soils continues to be quite low and potassium (K) fertilization is often neglected. The enhancement of pulse productivity via balanced fertilization will greatly assist farmers subject to the risks of rainfed agriculture.
On-farm black gram trials conducted at 20 villages in five Districts of Tamil Nadu (Virudhunagar, Thoothukudi, Perambalur, Villupuram, and Coimbatore) found positive responses to soil application of K as well as foliar spray. The positive responses were measured both in terms of improved plant growth parameters such as plant height, number of branches/plant, number of pods/plant, number of seeds/pod, 100 seeds weight, and yield. The average of 20 trials indicate that the farmer practice of 12.5-25 kg nitrogen (N)-phosphorus (P2O5)/ha produced a yield of 367 kg/ha, the 12.5-25-10 kg N-P2O5-K2O/ha rate produced 549 kg/ha, and application of 12.5-25-10 kg/ha plus foliar sprays containing 2% diammonium phosphate (DAP), 0.5% zinc sulfate (ZnSO4), and 0.05% molybdenum (Mo) produced 620 kg/ha. Increased application of K up to 30 kg/ha had a prominent influence on crop tolerance to drought, and this was denoted by increased water use efficiency due to a higher rate of stomatal diffusive resistance (SDR). SZ India-44
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