Abstract
Increasing crop yield and fertilizer use efficiency with optimum potassium (K) addition is essential for sustainable crop production. With the aim of establishing a scientific basis of K fertilization on the growth, leaf biomass yield, K requirement, K use efficiency, and critical leaf K concentration of Aloe vera, a pot experiment was carried out at farmer’s field with six levels of K viz. 0, 40, 60, 80, 120, and 160 kg ha−1 following completely randomized design. Yield attributes and leaf yield were significantly influenced by K application rate and the best results were obtained from the application of 120 kg K ha−1. On an average, application of K increased leaf yield by 105% compared to control. The highest gel weight and economic profit was obtained from K120. On the other hand, the highest leaf K concentration and uptake were found with the addition of 160 kg K ha−1. The higher K uptake and yield contributed to the enhanced K use efficiency of Aloe vera. The correlation results suggest a significant contribution of K on the growth parameters and increased leaf yield as well. The calculated K requirement for 80% leaf biomass and the critical leaf K concentration were 72.5 kg ha−1 and 1.29%, respectively.
Conflict of interest
No conflict of interest was reported by the authors.