Effect of soil calcium carbonate on growth, yield and nutrient content in cotton crop under semi-arid region of Punjab Yadav B.K.*, Grover Jagdish, Singh Sukhwinder Punjab Agricultural University, Regional Research Station, Bathinda, 151001, Punjab, India *Corresponding author (Email: bkyadav74@pau.edu)
Online published on 1 March, 2024. Abstract The present study was carried out during kharif 2021 under different levels of soil CaCO3 to find out the actual role of CaCO3 in relation to growth, yield and nutrient content by cotton plant. The results revealed that proper cotton growth was reported with ≤5.4% soil CaCO3. However, in general, >5.4% CaCO3 (average 8.5% CaCO3 in the study) significantly increased soil pH(1:2) by 5% and soil EC(1:2) by 16%. However, the availability of soil phosphorus (P) and soil potassium (K) decreased significantly and reported by 40 and 12%, respectively. The plant height (R2=0.76) and cotton seed yield (R2=0.76) was significantly affected by CaCO3, and decreased the plant height (33%) and seed cotton yield (48%). Similarly, the nutrient content in different parts of the plant also decreased in the presence of high soil CaCO3. The decrease in P and K content in leaves was 18 and 13%, in the stem was 12 and 9% and in roots was 12 and 8%, respectively. The results of the present study showed that more than 5.4% CaCO3 significantly reduces seed cotton yield under the semi-arid region of Punjab. Top Keywords Calcium carbonate, Growth, Yield, Nutrient content, Cotton, Semi-arid. Top |