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Fertilizer is vital for
growth of Tea plants
ISLAMABAD-Fertilizer is essential
for vigorous growth of young tea plants as lack of
insufficient supply of nutrients hamper healthy growth of
plants.
Tea crop is very responsive to nitrogen and according to
Hoshina the Japanese farmers use 600 - 1000 kg N/ha evidently
not for the yield but for quality considerations. Although use
of animal excrement on cultivated soils was common as far back
as agricultural records can be traced, inorganic fertilizers
have been systematically and extensively employed for the
enhancement of crop growth for more than 100 years.
According to a study report of National Agriculture Research
Center (NARC) until early eighties ammonium sulphate was
extensively used as a source of nitrogenous fertilizer in
fertilizer mixtures in Sri Lanka. In addition to nitrogen the
ammonium sulphate also provided sulphur to soils which plays a
vital role in photosynthetic activities of the plant and any
limitation or insufficiency of this nutrient, adversely
affects the photosynthesis and carbohydrate metabolism of the
plant.
Ammonium sulphate being an acidic salt plays an essential role
in reducing soil pH. Tea grows best in soils having pH of 6.0.
The object of the present study was to investigate the optimal
dose of ammonium sulphate and its effect on soil pH in
addition to growth and yield of tea bushes. The study was
conducted at the National Tea Research Institute, Shinkiari,
district Mansehra and Five-year-old tea bushes of "Qi-Men"
variety were pruned at a height of 40 cm. The pH value of the
soil at 0-15, 15-30 and 30-45 cm depths, determined before
starting the experiment were 5.6, 5.9 and 6.1, respectively.
The experimental plot size was 10m x 10 in and comprised 160
tea bushes which were given a basal dressing of potassium
sulphate @ 24 g/treatment. There were 32 bushes in each
treatment. The experiment was laid out in a completely
randomized design with four replications. Nitrogenous
fertilizer i.e. ammonium sulphate was applied in two splits,
during the year. The treatments were T1=control, T2=30kg
N,T2=60 kg N, T4=120 kg N, and T5=240 kg N/acre/annum. Other
agronomic practices were applied uniformly to all the
treatments. Data relating to the yield "bud+2" (fine
plucking), number of plucking points, growth rate and soil pH
were recorded and analyzed.
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