Effect of phosphorus and potassium on seed production of berseem

Abstract

A research study was conducted to find out the effect of phosphorus and potassium on seed production performance of berseem Egyptian clover (Trifolium alexandrinum L) which belongs to the family Papilionaceae. The experiment was conducted at Research Farm of Khyber Paktunkhwa, Agricultural University Peshawar, Pakistan during 2004 to 2005. The experiment was carried out in randomized complete block design (RCBD) with four replications. Treatments including phosphorus (30, 60 and 90 kg P ha^-1) and potassium (0, 30 and 60 kg K ha^-1) were applied to berseem. These treatments produced significant effect on the number of heads (m^-2), number of seeds head^-1, biological yield (kg ha^-1), seed yield (kg ha^-1) and thousand seed weight (g). Maximum number of heads (2430 m^-2), number of seeds head^-1 (41.50), biological yield (1310 kg ha^-1), seed yield (240 kg ha^-1) and thousand seed weight (2.18 g) were recorded in plots having 60 kg P ha^-1 x 30 kg K ha^-1, while minimum number of seeds (1680 m^-2), number of seeds head^-1 (30.06), biological yield (1072 kg ha^-1), seed yield (120kg ha^-1) and thousand seed weight (1.90g) were obtained from plots having no fertilizers (control or 0 kg ha^-1). The findings of this study shows that berseem had better performance in terms of seed production when fertilized with of 60 kg P ha^-1 and 30 kg K ha^-1 in irrigated areas of Peshawar valley.

Key words: Berseem, seed production, phosphorus, potassium.