Growth Analysis in Sugarcane Ratoon Crop as Influenced by Potassium Nutrition in Subtropical India

• Published in: Communications in Soil Science and Plant Analysis 2023-01, Vol.54 (1), p.83-95
• Main Authors: Shukla, S. K., Jaiswal, V P, Sharma, Lalan, Gaur, Asha, Tiwari, Raghvendra, Srivastava, Abhay
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Agricultural production; Ammonium; Ammonium compounds; Ammonium sulfate; Crop growth rate; Crop yield; Crops; dry matter accumulation; Growth; net assimilation rate; net photosynthetic rate; Nutrition; Photosynthesis; Potash; Potassium; Potassium carbonate; Potassium sulfate; Saccharides; Sugar; sugar yield; Sugarcane; tiller population; Yields
• ISSN: 0010-3624; 1532-2416; 1532-4133
• DOI: 10.1080/00103624.2022.2109665

A field experiment was conducted for two cropping seasons during 2016-19 at the ICAR-Indian Institute of Sugarcane Research, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India, with the objectives to study the effect of i) K nutrition and variable sources of K on growth analysis of sugarcane ratoon crop, ii) the response of K on the photosynthetic rate of crop and iii) contribution of K on yield attributes, sugarcane, and sugar yields. Mean results of two cropping seasons indicated that the application of potassium brought forth a 12.08% improvement in tiller population over no K (107.3 thousand/ha). Potassium application through K 2 SO 4 (SOP) showed the highest net rate of photosynthesis (15.28 µmol/m 2 /s) which was about 30.71% higher than the control. Among the various sources of K, SOP was found the best in improving sugarcane and sugar yields. Application of SOP resulted in 18.69% ratoon cane yield improvement over the control. Application of 75% K through K 2 SO 4 resulted in a higher sugar yield (12.01 t/ha) which was 25.76% higher than the control (9.55 t/ha). Potassium ammonium sulfate (PAS) and murate of potash could not produce better results as compared to K 2 SO 4 . Potassium application through SOP showed the highest net rate of photosynthesis (15.28 µmol/m 2 /s) during the grand growth phase. Application of 50.4 kg K/ha (75% more than recommended) through K 2 SO 4 increased 18.69% sugarcane (106.7 t/ha) and 25.76% (12.01 t/ha) sugar yields over the control (no K) and was found to the best and could be recommended for improving sugarcane and sugar yields of ratoon in subtropical India.