Evaluating the Efficiency of Potassium Fertilizer Sources and Levels on Sesame Growth and Yield in Two Different Gypsum Soils

Abstract

To investigate the effect of potassium fertilizer sources and level on sesame growth and yield in two different gypsum soils, two experiments were applied throughout the summer of 2022. The experiments included three factors, which were sources of potassium, potassium sulfate (KK2SO4) and potassium chloride (KKCL), potassium levels, 0 (K00), 75 (K75), 150 (K150), and 300 (K300) kg ha-1, and levels of gypsum in the soil, 6.02 (Soil06.02) and 15.87 (Soil15.87) %. Completely Randomized Block Design (CRBD) with three replications was used to apply the experiments. The results indicated that KK2SO4 significantly impacted plant height (18%), plant dry weight (8%), branch no (11%), capsules no. (5%), 1000 seeds weight (13%), yield (13%), and oil percentage (9%) compared with KKCL. Similarly, potassium at K300 was significantly higher compared with the other potassium levels. Also, gypsum Soil15.87 significantly impacted plant height (11%), dry weight (11%), capsules no. (5%), 1000 seeds weight (19%), yield (11%), and oil percentage (12%) compared with gypsum soil with 6%. The interactions between the two study factors and among the three study factors effected significantly all the study traits. These results will be beneficial for sesame production and management in the Salahaldin area, Iraq.