Response of sunflower to potassium and magnesium fertilizers in calcerous soils in central Anatolia of Turkey

ABSTRACT

This research was carried out to determine the effects of potassium [0, 40, 80, 120 kg potassium oxide (K₂O) ha⁻¹] and magnesium (0, 20, 40, 60 kg magnesium oxide (MgO) ha⁻¹) applied into soil separately and together on the grain yield and yield components of sunflower for oil grown in two farmer fields in the semi-arid Central Anatolia in 2009 and 2010. The experiments were set as factorial experiment design in randomized blocks and 4 replicates. Potassium and Mg-fertilizers were used in the single time into base in the sowing. According to the results, K application in the increasing doses increased yield components more than that of Mg. Together giving of the K and Mg in certain combinations took the yield components to maximum levels. The highest grain yields were obtained by the K₄₀Mg₄₀ in the first year (7313 kg ha⁻¹) and by the Mg₆₀ in the second year (6510 kg ha⁻¹).

KEYWORDS:

• Konya Province of Turkey
• potassium
• magnesium
• sunflower
• yield components

Funding

This work was supported by Scientific Research Project Coordinatorship of Selcuk University with the project number 09201108. The authors are grateful to the Coordinator for providing money support.