Fertilizer management is an important part for sunflower production and one must know how input affects the crop and soil traits. Determination of optimum fertilizer rates is important because of increasing economic and environmental concerns. This study was therefore conducted to determine optimum fertilizer and manure requirement for sunflower production. In this regard, three field experiments were conducted at Students Farm, Sindh Agriculture University, Tandojam, Pakistan, located at 25o25’60’N 68o31’ 60E, altitude 19.5 m asl. In all the experiments sunflower variety HO-1 was sown in rows (75 cm spacing). The experiment-1, was meant to evaluate NPK, Zn and B requirements for sunflower production. The treatments consisted: Factor-A=Seasons (Spring and Autumn), Factor-B NPK Levels (0-0-0 NPK kg ha-1, 60-30-30 NPK kg ha-1 (N as broadcast), 90-45-45 NPK kg ha-1 (N as broadcast), 120-60-60 NPK kg ha-1 kg ha-1 (N as broadcast), 60-30-30 NPK kg ha-1 (N as fertigation), 90-45-45 NPK kg ha-1 (N as fertigation) and 120-60-60 NPK kg ha-1 (N as fertigation) and Factor-C (zinc and boron levels (0-0, 10.0-1.5, 10.0-2.0, 15.0-1.5, 15.0.2.0, 20.0-1.5 and 20.0-2.0 Zn+B kg ha-1). The results recorded taller plants (207.2 cm), maximum stem girth (12.2 cm), better head diameter (23.0 cm), more seeds head-1 (696.4), heavier seeds weight head-1 (49.0 g), bolder seed index (71.2 g), maximum seed yield (2743.0 kg ha-1) and higher dry matter (11666.7 kg ha-1), higher N-uptake (70.2 kg ha-1), P-uptake (19.1 kg ha-1), K-uptake (93.9 kg ha-1), Zn-uptake (335.8 g ha-1) and B-uptake (199.2 g ha-1) under application of 90-45- 45 NPK x 15-1.5 Zn-B kg ha-1 (N applied as fertigation). Similarly, higher values of physiological traits at flowering phase i.e dry matter (1353.0 g m-2), leaf area index (5.7), leaf area duration (55.6 days), crop growth rate (8.7 g m-2 day-1) and net assimilation rate (24.3 g m-2 day-1) were also noted for the same treatement.
However, oil content in this Interactive effect showed non-significant differences. The regression coefficient (b) revealed that a unit increase in various traits resulted in corresponding increase of sunflower seed yield by head diameter (101.2 kg ha-1) seeds head-1 (6.2 kg ha-1), seed weight head-1 (55.2 kg ha-1), seed index (58.2 kg ha-1), dry matter (0.3 kg ha-1), leaf area index (1108.3 kg ha-1), leaf area duration (113.4 kg ha-1), crop growth rate (378.4 kg ha-1), net assimilation rate (213.7 kg ha-1), nitrogen uptake (27.4 kg ha-1), phosphorus uptake (131.8 kg ha-1), potassium uptake (32.4 kg ha-1), zinc uptake (6.5 kg ha-1) and boron uptake (10.9 kg ha-1). However, a unit increase in seed oil content resulted corresponding decrease in seed yield by 1339.2 kg ha-1. The experiment-2, involved “Integrated use of organic manures and inorganic fertilizers nutrients for sunflower production” The treatments consisted: no manure, cattle manure (5, 10 and 15 tons ha-1) and poultry manure (5, 10 and 15 tons ha-1) with 90-45- 45 NPK + 15 Zn + 1.5 B (kg ha-1). The results of the study showed that the incorporation of fertilizers and manures significantly enhanced all the crop parameters. The taller plants (232.3, 231.2 cm), more stem girth (13.9, 13.9 cm), maximum head diameter (27.1 and 26.5 cm), higher number of seeds head-1 (801.9 and 797.9), heavier seed weight head-1 (66.6 and 65.9 g) bolder seed index (83.2 and 83.0), superior seed yield (3681.8 and 3643.2 kg ha-1) and higher dry matter at harvest (12859.3 and 12845.0 kg ha-1), higher Nuptake (80.7 and 82.2 kg ha-1), P-uptake (24.2 and 24.5 kg ha-1), K-uptake (114.2 and 114.0 kg ha-1), Zn-uptake (531.9 and 530.4 g ha-1) and B-uptake (320.4 and 314.9 g ha-1), higher dry matter (2075.0 and 2066.7 g m-2), maximum leaf area index (7.2 and 7.2), greater leaf area duration (67.4 and 67.3 days), more crop growth rate (10.3 and 10.2 g m- 2 day-1) and superior net assimilation rate (30.7 and 30.7 g m-2day-1) were recorded under cattle manure 10 t ha-1 + 90-45-45 NPK + 15-1.5 Zn-B kg ha-1 and poultry manure 5 t ha-1 + 90-45-45 NPK + 15-1.5 Zn-B kg ha-1, respectively, where N was applied as fertigation. Whereas, seed oil content showed inverse relationship under higher applications of inorganic fertilizers and manures. It was observed that application of poultry manure at 5 tha-1 or cattle manure at 10 t ha-1 with 90-45-45 NPK + 15-1.5 Zn-B kg ha-1 significantly enhanced all these traits and beyond these treatments no significant differences were exhibited even at higher levels of manures and were economically optimum levels for achieving satisfactory crop parameters. The regression coefficient indicates that a unit increase in various traits resulted in corresponding increase of sunflower seed yield by head diameter (150.0 kg ha-1) seeds head-1 (6.5 kg ha-1), seed weight head-1 (53.1 kg ha-1), seed index (62.8 kg ha-1), dry matter (0.4 kg ha-1), leaf area index (1027.5 kg ha-1), leaf area duration (116.0 kg ha-1), crop growth rate (469.9 kg ha-1), net assimilation rate (218.3 kg ha-1), nitrogen uptake (36.1 kg ha-1), phosphorus uptake (172.1 kg ha-1), potassium uptake (40.4 kg ha-1), zinc uptake (5.9 kg ha-1) and boron (9.5 kg ha-1). However, a unit increase in oil content resulted corresponding decrease in seed yield by (1546.3 kg ha-1). The experiment-3 entitled “residual effect of organic manures and supplemental inorganic fertilizers on sunflower production” revealed prolonged maturity (99.3 and 99.33 days), taller plants (258.1 and 256.9 cm), more stem girth (16.2 and 16.2 cm), maximum head diameter (31.1 and 31.0 cm), higher number of seeds head-1 (888.1 and 884.2), heavier seed weight head-1 (80.1 and 79.7 g) bolder seed index (90.9 and 92.0 g), superior seed yield (4420.2 and 4450.4 kg ha-1) and higher dry matter (14395.9 and 14381.2 kg ha-1), higher N-uptake (100.9 and 100.3 kg ha-1), P-uptake (33.9 and 33.7 kg ha-1), K-uptake (159.1 and 158.8, kg ha-1), Zn-uptake (603.0 and 605.1g ha-1), B-uptake (361.0 and 364.7 g ha-1), maximum leaf area index (7.9 and 7.9), greater leaf area duration (76.0 and 75.8, days), higher dry matter (2808.7 and 2740.4 g m-2), more crop growth rate (12.1 and 12.0 g m-2 day-1) and superior net assimilation rate (36.9 and 36.0 g m-2day-1) were recorded under residual cattle manure 10 t ha-1 + 90-45-45 NPK + 15-1.5 Zn-B kg ha-1 and residual poultry manure 5 t ha-1 + 90-45-45 NPK + 15-1.5 Zn-B kg ha-1 respectively where N applied as fertigation and beyond these treatments no significant increase in all the crop traits was noted. The regression coefficients indicate a unit increase in various traits resulted in corresponding increase of sunflower seed yield by head diameter (157.2 kg ha-1) seeds head-1 (7.3 kg ha-1), seed weight head-1 (53.7 kg ha-1), seed index (67.9 kg ha-1), dry matter (0.4 kg ha-1), leaf area index (1064.0 kg ha-1), leaf area duration (111.2 kg ha-1), crop growth rate (456.8 kg ha-1), net assimilation rate (195.3 kg ha-1), nitrogen uptake (36.0 kg ha-1), phosphorus uptake (143.0 kg ha-1), potassium uptake (33.3 kg ha-1), zinc uptake (6.5 kg ha-1) and boron (10.3 kg ha-1), however, a unit increase in oil content resulted in corresponding decrease in seed yield by 2037.6 kg ha-1. It is concluded that the fertilizers and manures enhanced all the crop traits, nutrient uptake and improved soil fertility. The application of NPK (90-45-45 kg ha-1, N applied as fertigation) + Zn+B (15+1.5 kg ha-1) with 10 t ha-1 of cattle or 5 t ha-1 poultry manure for their residual effect in the subsequent crop were superior and optimum fertilizer and manure doses for sunflower production without degrading fertility of soil. It is suggested that any source of well decomposed organic manures could be incorporated in the field to enrich the soil fertility on long term basis and higher sunflower production. Thus, it is recommended that sunflower crop should be fertilized with incorporation of NPK (90-45-45 kg ha-1, N as fertigation) + Zn+B (15+1.5 kg ha-1) with 10 t ha-1 cattle or 5 t ha-1 poultry manures for satisfactory yield and maintenance of soil fertility.
Source: SIDDIQUI, MUZZAMMIL HUSSAIN (2010) Nutrient Management for Sunflower Production. PhD thesis, Sindh Agriculture University, Tando Jam
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