Potassium nutrient response in the rice-wheat cropping system in different agro-ecozones of Nepal.

Autor: Ojha RB; Soil Science Division, Nepal Agricultural Research Council, Khumaltar, Lalitpur, Nepal., Shrestha S; Soil Science Division, Nepal Agricultural Research Council, Khumaltar, Lalitpur, Nepal., Khadka YG; Soil Science Division, Nepal Agricultural Research Council, Khumaltar, Lalitpur, Nepal., Panday D; Department of Biosystems Engineering and Soil Science, University of Tennessee-Knoxville, Knoxville, TN, United States of America.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: PloS one [PLoS One] 2021 Mar 18; Vol. 16 (3), pp. e0248837. Date of Electronic Publication: 2021 Mar 18 (Print Publication: 2021).
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0248837
Abstrakt: Most of the soils of Nepal had a higher potassium (K, expressed as K2O) level inherently. Later in 1976, the Government of Nepal has recommended K fertilizer rate at 30 kg K2O ha-1 in rice-wheat cropping systems. However, those crops began showing K deficiency symptoms in recent decades, which could be due to a large portion of soils with depleted K level or the insufficient input of K fertilizer for crop production. This study explored a limitation of K nutrient in the crops by establishing field trials from 2009-2014 at three agro-ecozones i.e., inner-Terai (2009-2010), high-Hills (2011-2012), and Terai (2012-2014) in Nepal. Seven rates of K fertilizer at 0, 15, 30, 45, 60, 75, and 90 kg K2O ha-1 were replicated four times in a randomized complete block design, where crop yields and yield-attributing parameters of rice-wheat cropping system were recorded. Results revealed that an increase in K rates from 45 to 75 kg K2O ha-1 under inner-Terai and Terai conditions and 45 to 60 kg ha-1 under high-Hills conditions produced significantly higher grain yields compared to the recommended K dose. Economically, the optimum rate of K fertilizer should not exceed 68 kg K2O ha-1 for rice in all agro-ecozones, or 73 kg K2O ha-1 for wheat in inner-Terai and 60 kg K2O ha-1 for wheat in high-Hills and Terai. Our findings suggest to increase potassium application in between 1.5 to 2.5 times of the current K fertilizer rate in rice-wheat cropping system of Nepal that need to be tested further in different locations and crop varieties.
Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.
Databáze: MEDLINE
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