Abstract
Under arid and semiarid climate conditions, application of muriate of potash (KCl) results in salinity problem due to its higher chloride (Cl- ) contents. In order to combat this problem, KCl was blended with different sources of compost (fruits and vegetables, poultry, press mud and cow dung) in order to get a dilution effect of composts. A pot experiment was conducted to evaluate the comparative efficacy of KCl blended composts and KCl or K2SO4 alone on growth, physiology and K nutrition of maize. Different composts applied @ 500 kg ha-1 were blended with KCl in such a way that each combination received the same amount of K as in case of recommended KCl and K2SO4 alone. Muriate of potash blended poultry compost significantly improved various growth parameters like plant height (19%), root length (60%), root (100%) and shoot fresh weight (64%), root (88%) and shoot dry weight (81%) and chlorophyll contents (29%) compared to KCl alone. However, the maximum physiological parameters were observed with KCl blended press mud compost. Similarly, KCl blended poultry compost significantly increased K concentration and uptake in shoot (26 and 122%) and root (39 and 133%) compared to KCl alone. Post-harvest soil analysis showed an increase of about 2 folds in K contents in KCl blended poultry compost compared to KCl alone. Based on the above results, KCl blended composts proved better in improving various growth, physiological and K nutrition of maize compared to the application of KCl and K2SO4 alone.
Naila Farooq, Shamsa Kanwal, Allah Ditta, Azhar Hussain, Muhammad Naveed, Muhammad Usman Jamshaid, Muhammad Iqbal. (2018) Comparative efficacy of KCl blended composts and sole application of KCl or K2SO4 in improving K nutrition, photosynthetic capacity and growth of maize, The Journal Soil & Environment , Volume 37, Issue 1.
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