Response of potassium-use-efficient cotton genotypes to soil applied potassium.

Nutrient-use-efficient genotypes are the part and parcel of environment-friendly sustainable agriculture. We exploited three cotton genotypes, differing in their potassium (K) use efficiency (NIBGE-2: highly efficient, NIAB-78: medium efficient and CIM-506: non-efficient), to evaluate their growth, yield and quality against different levels of soil applied K sulphate (0, 30, 60, 90 and 120 kg K ha -1 ). The study was comprised of two experiments, with pot experiment conducted in a completely randomized design and field experiment in a two-factor factorial split-plot randomized complete block design with three replications. The experimental soil was poorly fertile sandy clay loam (Typic Calciargids). Generally, K nutrition enhanced the growth and yield of cotton. However, cotton genotypes responded significantly (p NIAB-78 > CIM-506. The genotype NIBGE-2 performed well under K deficient condition and was best choice for low-K-input sustainable cotton production. © 2014 Friends Science Publishers