Growth and Yield Response of Sunflower to Organic Amendments in Aridisol
Hafiz Hammad Ahmad1, Mukkram Ali Tahir1*, Noor-us-Sabah1, Ghulam Sarwar1, Sher Muhammad2, Muhammad Aftab3, Muhammad Zeeshan Manzoor1 and Aneela Riaz4
ABSTRACT
Phosphorus (P) is a limited natural reserve and a major limiting factor for global crop production. The adverse soil biogeochemical characteristics of alkaline-calcareous soils make P the least available macronutrient. Therefore, alternative P source such as rock phosphate (RP) can offer a promising choice for sustainable P supply under P stress environment. A pot research was executed to explore the response of sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) to sparingly soluble P sources grown under P deficient environment at research area, College of Agriculture, University of Sargodha during 2018. The experiment was laid out in a Completely Randomized Design (CRD) with eight treatments replicated thrice. The treatments consisted of T1 = NK + P0 (Control); T2 = NPK (Recommended dose); T3 = NK + Rock phosphate at 7 g pot-1; T4 = NPK + Rock phosphate at 7 g pot-1; T5 = NK + Rock phosphate at 7 g pot-1 + Wheat straw at 14 g pot-1; T6 = NK + Rock phosphate at 7 g pot-1 + Wheat straw at 28 g pot-1; T7 = NK + Rock phosphate at 7 g pot-1 + Rice straw at 14 g pot-1; T8 = NK + Rock phosphate at 7 g pot-1 + Rice straw at 28 g pot-1. Observations on various growth and yield parameters of crop were recorded using standard procedures and noted data was examined with a statistical software Statistix 8.1 analysis of variance technique and significant of treatments was tested using LSD test at probability level of 5%. The maximum fresh biomass (95.50 g), dry biomass (25.73 g), plant height (110.90 cm), head size (21.36 cm), number of achene haed-1 (864) and achene yield plant-1 (32.16 g) of sunflower was observed with application of NK + Rock phosphate at 7 g pot-1 + Wheat straw at 28 g pot-1 (T6) in cultivar Hysun-33. While, lowest value of fresh biomass (72.73 g), dry biomass (15.72 g), head size (16.63 cm), achene head-1 (711), achene yield plant-1 (18.36 g) was noted under NK + P0 (T1) treatment in Agwara-3. Among the tested sunflower cultivars, Hysun-33 showed superiority over Agwara-4.
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