Evaluated Potential of Mica Waste to Release Sufficient Potassium to Support the Growth of Plants in Acidic Tea-Growing Soil in Northeast India

ABSTRACT

Tea (Camellia sinensis L.) is a nutrient-demanding perennial crop and cultivated in typically acidic soil under sub-tropic humid condition. A large amount of fertilizers, especially urea and muriate of potash (MoP), are applied in the soil to sustain tea productivity. However, high potassium (K)-loss from soil under humid conditions suggests the requirement of an alternative K source for supplementing K in the soil during tea cultivation. The objective was to evaluate the possibility of using K-containing minerals, namely, potassium feldspar (K-spar) and mica waste (WM), as alternative K-source for supplementing K in the soil. In this study, application of WM at the recommended dose increased exchangeable K content in soil compared to control (received no K input); however, the value was lower than that of MoP treatment. The WM-treated plants had better growth and higher K uptake than plants with the MoP treatment. Application of WM at half of the recommended dose increased K content in the soil above no K-treated soil and recorded comparable growth and K accumulation by plants as MoP. MW could be used as K amendment in acidic soil, especially during tea cultivation.

KEYWORDS:

• Potassium feldspar
• mica waste
• plant growth
• K availability in soil
• K uptake
• tea

Acknowledgments

The authors are thankful to the Director, TTRI, TRA, Jorhat, for providing necessary facilities for conducting the experiment. The work was supported by the funding of National Tea Research Foundation (NTRF), Tea Board of India (NTRF17 (327) 2014; NTRF: 183/2016).

Supplementary material

Supplementary data for this article can be accessed here.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the National Tea Research Foundation (NTRF), Tea Board of India [NTRF: 183/2016].