TITLE:
Effect of Potassium Source and Dose on Yield and Quality of Strawberry Fruit
AUTHORS:
Amal Nakro, Ahmed Bamouh, Oumaima El Khatib, Lamiae Ghaouti
KEYWORDS:
Strawberry, Fertilization, Potassium, Productivity, Quality
JOURNAL NAME:
American Journal of Plant Sciences,
Vol.13 No.9,
September
16,
2022
ABSTRACT: The purpose of this research is to investigate the
effect of potassium fertilization source and dose on productivity and quality
parameters of strawberry. The trial was
conducted in 2016-2017 at the experimental greenhouse of Hassan II Institute of Agronomy and Veterinary Sciences
in Rabat. Strawberry plants of the cultivar “San Andreas” were planted
on November 6th in 12 liter pots equipped with a gravity fertigation
system. The experimental design was a
split-plot with eight treatment combinations of two potassium fertilizer
sources: 1) Potassium Sulphate for the whole growing cycle (PS/PS); 2)
Potassium Nitrate during the vegetative period and Potassium Sulfate during the
fruit production period (PN/PS) and four potassium fertilizer doses: 100, 200,
300 and 400 kg/ha of K2O replicated thrice. Potassium sulfate source
was superior to potassium nitrate on the improvement of productivity and
quality parameters of strawberry fruit. Potassium sulphate improved the number
of flowers by 16%, fruit production by 21%, sugar content by 3%, and titrable
acidity content by 0.5 g/L. The highest yield was recorded in plants receiving
300 kg/ha K2O as potassium sulphate. The 300 kg K2O/ha
dose gave also superior results regarding quality parameters of strawberry
fruit. This optimum potassium dose enhanced number of flowers by 35%, fruits
produced by 44%, sugar content by 25% and titrable acidity content by 0.9 g/L.