Potassium Fertilization in Soybean and Its Correlation With Electrical Conductivity in Soil

Abstract

Soybeans stand out among the main oilseeds in the world, with potassium (K+) as the second most required nutrient and exported by the plant. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of potassium fertilization on soybean crop and its correlation with the electrical conductivity in a Yellow Dystrophic Latosol in the Cerrado of Maranhão. The experiments were conducted in the years of 2015 and 2016. The design was a randomized block design, with five treatments and five replications. Treatments consisted of the following K2O doses: 0, 50, 100, 200 and 300 kg ha-1 in the sowing groove. The data collected were submitted to analysis of variance and regression. The response of soybean to potassium fertilization occurred for the mass of 100 grains. The highest grain yield was evidenced in the first year of soybean cultivation. The increase in the adjustment parameters of the regression models in the electrical conductivity of 20-40 cm in the second year of cultivation occurred as a function of the increase of the potassium fertilization.