Abstract
Potassium (K) may enhance productivity and suppresses foliar diseases of mulberry plant. Existing optimum dose of K for mulberry cultivation need to be updated for suppress foliar disease and improve mulberry plant productivity. This study was conducted to renew the optimum dose of K for mulberry cultivation with respect to the ages of mulberry plant. Therefore, a field study was conducted in split plot design with three replications at Bangladesh Sericulture Research and Training Institute (BSTRI), Rajshahi, Bangladesh to find out the effect of elevated K and ages of plant on growth, leaf yield, leaf quality, nutrient uptake and infestation of foliar diseases of mulberry plant. Six levels of K (0, 30, 60, 90, 120 and 150 kg/ha/yr) along with BSRTI recommended basal doses of nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) were applied on two age group of plant viz: (0-5) years and (6-10) years. Result showed that the highest leaf yield 47.10 mt ha -1 year -1 for 6-10 year’s plant at the treatment of T5 (N300P150K150 kg ha -1 year -1). This indicatedleaf yield 175.44% greater over the control but 22.69% higher than the 0-5 year’s plant. Similarly, the maximum leaf quality viz: moisture, reducing sugar, total mineral, total sugar, soluble carbohydrate and crude protein were obtained in (6-10) year’s plant for the same treatments which were 13.82%, 23.47%, 29.96%, 20.57%, 39.58% and 30.69% respectively greater over the control. Furthermore, the average incidence percentages of foliar diseases like leaf spot, tukra and powdery mildew were reduced by 42.34%, 58.02% and 82.96% respectively in (6-10) years plant due to the elevated doses of K like as 150 kg, 90 kg and 60 kg/ha/yr respectively with BSRTI recommended doses of N and P over the control. This findings indicated that the use of 150 kg potassium ha -1 year -1 had better performance on the leaf yield and quality of mulberry plant. Therefore, the application of 150 kg potassium ha -1 year -1 with BSRTI recommended dose of N and P both for (0-5) and (6-10) year’s ages of mulberry plant cultivation is the best options for higher leaf yield and quality whereas 150 kg, 90 kg and 60 kg potassium ha -1 year -1 respectively are better for controlling of leaf spot, tukra and powdery mildew diseases.
Highlights
Mulberry which belongs to the genus Morus comprising of about 68 species (Datta, 2000), is a perennial woody plant which after proper establishment can come to full yielding capability during the second year and last for over 17 years without any significant deterioration in leaf yield (Kumaresan et al, 1994)
Our findings are similar with the previous results of Miah (1989), where he found that the application of 150 kg K/ha/yr with 400 kg N/ha/yr and 200 kg P/ha/yr in four split doses increased the mulberry leaf yield 77.92% over the control treatment with the progressive increase of NPK fertilizers, leaf constituents viz: moisture, crude protein, total sugar, reducing sugar, starch and soluble carbohydrate contents increased gradually but mineral content decreased
This speculation is lined with the previous findings of Subbaswamy et al (2001), who reported that the growth and yield of mulberry plant may be increased due to the involvement of potassium in metabolic functions related to enzyme activation, water relations, energy transformations, translocation of a assimilates, nitrogen metabolism, protein and starch synthesis
Summary
Mulberry which belongs to the genus Morus comprising of about 68 species (Datta, 2000), is a perennial woody plant which after proper establishment can come to full yielding capability during the second year and last for over 17 years without any significant deterioration in leaf yield (Kumaresan et al, 1994). The quality of mulberry silk is directly dependent on the nutrition of leaf which influences healthy growth of silkworm larvae and thereby the good cocoon crop (Bongale et al 1996). Quality of mulberry leaf is one of the basic prerequisite of sericulture and plays a pivotal role for successful silkworm cocoon crop (Guttierrez et al 1997). Potassium (K) is essential for normal growth and development of mulberry plants (Yadav 1983). The K is the most important plant nutrient that has a significant role in the growth, metabolism and development of plant after N and P (Gallegos-Cedillo et al 2016)
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