EFFECT OF POTASSIUM SOURCES AND BIOCHAR LEVELS ON THE YIELD AND QUALITY OF POTATO
Date
2021
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
DEPARTMENT OF AGRONOMY
Abstract
A field experiment was conducted at the experimental field of Sher-e-Bangla
Agricultural University, Sher-e-Bangla Nagar, Dhaka-1207 during the period
from November, 2019 to March, 2020 in Rabi season to find out the response of
different source of potassium fertilizer and different biochar levels on growth,
yield and quality of potato. The experiment had two factors. factor a: potassium:
3 sources; K₁: Muriate of potash (MoP or KCl), K₂: Potassium phosphate
(KH₂PO₄) and K₃: Potassium sulfate (K₂SO₄) and factor B: Biochar: 4 levels; B₁:
1.25 t ha⁻¹, B₂: 2.50 t ha⁻¹, B₃: 3.75 t ha⁻¹ and B₄: 5.00 t ha⁻¹. The potato variety
was BARI Alu-29 (Courage). The experiment was laid out in a Randomized
Complete Block Design (RCBD) with three (3) replications. Total 36 plots were
made for the experiment with 12 treatments. Source of potassium fertilizer
and/or biochar showed significant effect on different morphological, yield and
qualitative characters of potato. The maximum number of tubers hill⁻¹ (7.44), the
maximum weight of tubers hill⁻¹ (266.37 g), the highest tuber yield (26.64 t ha⁻¹),
the maximum marketable yield (19.07 t ha⁻¹) and the highest specific gravity of
tuber were recorded (1.058 g cm⁻³), the maximum tuber dry matter (21.73%) and
the highest starch content on potato (16.77 mg g⁻¹ FW) were recorded from B
4
(5.00 t ha⁻¹) treatment. In 36 treatment of combinations, the maximum weight of
tuber hill⁻¹ (286.00 g), the highest tuber yield (28.60 t ha⁻¹) and the maximum
marketable yield (20.48 t ha⁻¹) were observed in KH
2
ii
PO
4
and 5.00 t ha⁻¹ biochar
(K
2
B
4
) treatment combination. Application of KH
2
PO
4
as the source of
potassium fertilizer with 5.00 t ha
−1
of biochar combination seemed to be more
suitable for getting higher yield. But when considering quality attributes, the
combination of Potassium sulphate with 5.00 t ha
−1
biochar exhibited highest
dry matter content (22.67%), maximum starch content (17.50 mg/g FW),
whereas, minimum TSS and reducing sugar content. It is concluded that the
application of Potassium phosphate (452.19 kg KH₂PO₄ ha
−1
) and 5.00 t ha
of
biochar is suitable for higher yield and the application of Potassium sulphate
(288.60 kg K₂SO₄ ha
−1
) and 5.00 t ha
−1
biochar is applied for good quality potato.
Description
A Thesis
Submitted to the Department of Agronomy, Faculty of Agriculture,
Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University, Dhaka in partial
fulfillment of the requirement for the degree of
MASTER OF SCIENCE (MS)
IN
AGRONOMY
Keywords
POTASSIUM SOURCES, BIOCHAR LEVELS, POTATO