Can sulphur improve the nutrient uptake, partitioning, and seed yield of sesame?

Muhammad Zeeshan Mehmood,Tehseen Ahmad Meraj,Mukhtar Ahmed,Muhammad Aqeel Aslam,Muhammad Jawad Hassan,Ghulam Qadir,Muhammad Ali Raza,Obaid Afzal,Shakeel Ahmad,Atta Mohi Ud Din,Imran Khan,Ahmed M.S Kheir

doi:10.1007/s12517-021-07229-6

Abstract

Sulphur (S) is considered to improve the nutrient uptake of plants due to its synergistic relationship with other nutrients. This could ultimately enhance the seed yield of oilseed crops. However, there is limited quantitative information on nutrient uptake, distribution, and its associated impacts on seed yield of sesame under the S application. Thus, a two-year field study (2018 and 2019) was conducted to assess the impacts of different S treatments (S0 = Control, S20 = 20, S40 = 40, and S60 = 60 kg ha−1) on total dry matter production, nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, S uptake and distribution at the mid-bloom stage and physiological maturity. Furthermore, treatment impacts were studied on the number of capsules per plant, number of seeds per capsule, thousand seed weight, and seed yield at physiological maturity in sesame. Compared to S0, over the years, treatment S40 significantly increased the total uptake of nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, and S (by 13, 22, 11% and 16%, respectively) at physiological maturity, while their distribution by 13, 36, 14, and 24% (in leaves), 12, 15, 11, and 15% (in stems), 15, 42, 18, and 10% (in capsules), and 14, 22, 9, and 15% (in seeds), respectively. Enhanced nutrient uptake and distribution in treatment S40 improved the total biomass accumulation (by 28%) and distribution in leaves (by 34%), stems (by 27%), capsules (by 26%), and seeds (by 28%), at physiological maturity, as compared to S0. Treatment S40 increased the number of capsules per plant (by 13%), number of seeds per capsule (by 11%), and thousand seed weight (by 6%), compared to S0. Furthermore, over the years, relative to control, sesame under S40 had a higher seed yield by 28% and enhanced the net economic returns by 44%. Thus, our results suggest that optimum S level at the time of sowing improves the nutrient uptake and distribution during the plant lifecycle, which ultimately enhances total dry matter accumulation, seed yield, and net productivity of sesame.

Highlights

Oilseeds are important crops that play a prominent role in the agriculture industry all over the globe
Across the years, compared to S0, treatment S40 improved the biomass in leaves, stem, and capsules by 27, 29, and 35%, respectively, at Mid bloom stage (MB)
Our results suggested that the N-contents of sesame leaves, stem, capsules, and seeds were highest at MB and Physiological maturity stage (PM) in S40 among all the treatments

Summary

Introduction

Oilseeds are important crops that play a prominent role in the agriculture industry all over the globe. Over the past three decades, increased interest in oilseeds led to an 82% expansion in the total cultivated area (Rahman and Dejiménez 2016). This continuous intensification and extension in cropping areas are exerting pressure on agricultural land and resulting in overexploitation of the natural resources, which is a major concern in agricultural sustainability (FAO 2017). To satisfy the growing demands of edible oils, oilseeds production needs to be coupled with efficient agronomic practices to increase the per unit area yield on a sustainable basis

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Discussion

Conclusion