Effect of Rates of Phosphate, Potassium and Lime on Yield of sugarcane on Sandy Loam soil in the Northeast

Abstract

Study on the rates of phosphate, potassium and lime supply on yield nd quality of sugarcane was conducted on the sandy loam soil in the northeast of Thailand during 1994-1995. The experiments were localized on two sites at Khon Kaen and Udon Thani provinces. Each experiment was designed as factorial in RCB with three replications. The experiment comprised two levels of lime (-lime (0 kg/rai) + lime (200 kg/rai) and five levels of K2O (0} 6} 12} 18 and 24 kg K2O/rai) for the Khon Kaen site. With the same rqate of lime supply, five levels of P2O5 (0, 6, 12, 18 and kg P2O5/rai) were treted at Udon Thani site.
The results indicated that P2O5 supply had the effect on sugarcane yield. With the rate of 12-24 kg P2O5 / rai, the plants produced the highest yield about 20-24 ton/rai. However, P2O5 supply had no effect on the qulity. In contrqast, potassium supply had no effect on yield, but it likely incresed the quality of sugrcane. The highest rate of K2O supply (24 K2O/rai) produced the highest %CCS, %BRIX and %POL. Furthermore, we suggested that the 10th leaf blde from the top was the poor indicator for prediction of potssium nutrition on plant quality.