Sulphur and its significance in higher pulse production

Abstract

Sulphur is one of the emerging plant nutrients, required for pulse crops. After nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium, it is forth key nutrient for plant nutrition. It is taken up by the plants in the form of sulphates form from the soil. The factors that are responsible for the wide spread deficiency of sulphur are excess use of high analysis fertilizers, inadequate use of crop residue, high yielding varieties of crops and its removal of sulphur by the crops. Sulphur plays a pivotal role in overall pulse production, by synthesis of sulphur containing amino acids, enhancing protein content, nodule formation and plant biomass. However, the requirement of sulphur for effective crop production is not showing promising trend. Comparing the sources of sulphur fertilizers, gypsum showed its superiority by producing high grain and straw yield in pulses. In some of the field experiments on pulses, addition of sulphur @30kg and 40kgof S/ha along with the recommended dose, increased the growth (plant height and number of branches) and yield and quality parameters (grain yield and protein content). This review highlights the different response of crops to Sulphur application, sources, uptake and its interactions with other nutrients for profitable crop production. Moreover, it provides new insights to revisit the significance of sulphur in higher pulse production.