EVALUATION OF PROMISING GRAIN SORGHUM (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench) STRAINS AT DIFFERENT LEVELS OF FERTILIZER UNDER BAHAWALPUR CONDITIONS
Abstract
Grain sorghum [Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench] is the fifth most important cereal crop grown for human consumption in the world surpassed only by rice, wheat, barley and corn. In Pakistan, it is grown on 0.34 million hectares with annual production of 0.21 million tons with an average yield of 620 kg ha-1. Pakistani soils are deficient in N (100%) and P (90%) while deficiencies of K (20%) are crop and soil specific, hence response to N and P is universal. The present study was planned to investigate sorghum yield response to different combinations of nitrogen and phosphorous (NP) as well as potassium (K) to explain fertilizer response and yield variability. This research study was conducted at the experimental area of Regional Agricultural Research Institute (RARI) Bahawalpur during the main cropping season of Kharif-2021 to assess the response of Sorghum under different doses of fertilizer application and find out the best yielding strain amongst RARI-S-22, RARI-S-14 and JAWAR-86 developed at RARI, Bahawalpur. Three Sorghum strains were subjected to different levels of fertilizers under a split plot design arrangement with four treatments and three replications. All N, P & K was applied at sowing time according to treatment plan. A newly developed sorghum strain with a variety, RARI-S-22, RARI-S-14 and JAWAR-86 was grown with three different treatment combinations of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium applied in the form of urea, diammonium phosphate and potassium sulphate. The results showed that there was a gradual increase in grain yield with the application of fertilizers. The highest yield was obtained in T4 and it was statistically at par with a yield obtained in T3. RARI-S-14 produced higher yields in all the treatments i.e., 987 kg ha-1 in T1 (0-0-0), 1510 kg ha-1 in T2 (75-45-30 kg ha-1), 2138 kg ha-1 in T3 (150-90-60 kg ha-1) and 2257 kg ha-1 in T4 (225-135-90 kg ha-1) as compared to others i.e., RARI-S-22 and JAWAR-86. Hence RARI-S-14 proved to be the most yielding strain in this comparative study under the climatic conditions of Bahawalpur.
