Soil Fertility and Nutrient management (1+1)

Consumption of potassium by plants

• Potassium uptake is often equal to or more than that of nitrogen. It is absorbed by plants by K+ form. Crop species differ in their K requirement. Tuber crops like potato, vegetables like cauliflower and cabbage, forages like alfalfa and fruits like banana, grapes and pineapple, plantation crops like coconut, tea, rubber are among the heavy feeders of K.
• High crop yields and higher rates of N and P application accelerate K uptake from the soil. Crop responses to K are large on laterites, red and yellow and mixed red and black soils. Plants absorb and accumulate K far in excess of their needs if it present sufficiently in soil without affecting the metabolic activity or without any plant response. This is called as Luxury consumption.
• Potassium also subjected for various losses

  1) Leaching losses of K- Especially in sandy soils and soils rich in kaolinite located heavy rainfall area.
  2) Soil erosion losses- It also leads to considerable loss of total K from the soil.
  3) Fixation of K by clay complex of illite type