Potash Use and Dynamics in Agriculture

Description

This book covers the use and dynamics of potassium fertilizers in agriculture. It explores potassium dynamics in soil, phytoavailability, uptake and translocation in crop plants, impact of potassium fertilizers on quality of agricultural produce. Potassium is an essential plant nutrient that has long been overlooked in agriculture of many developing countries. In most of the agro-ecosystems of such countries, potassium balance is negative because its application seldom matches with crop removal. Agro-technicians lack enough skills and resources to promote the right source of fertilizer at the right rate, time and place to facilitate profitable farming. There is a need for farmers to update their farming practices so as to improve the crop yield and quality under unfavorable climatic conditions. Correct application of potassium fertilizers is directly linked with increased crop yield per unit land area in most of the developing countries. Therefore this book fills the gap in the information and provide the readers with latest updates on use of potassium fertilizers. This book contains latest information relevant for graduate students, progressive farmers, extension worker, early career researchers, and policy makers. Foreword Preface About the Book Contents About the Authors 1: Introduction References 2: Potassium Dynamics in Soils 2.1 Potassium Content in Soil 2.2 Soil Mineralogy and Potassium Dynamics 2.3 Nature of Minerals in Pakistani Soils 2.4 Plant Available Potassium References 3: Potassium in Plants 3.1 History as an Essential Element 3.2 Functions in Plants 3.2.1 Enzyme Activation 3.2.2 Charge Balance 3.2.3 Osmotic Functions 3.3 Critical Concentrations of Potassium in Plants 3.4 Potassium Deficiency Symptoms in Plants References 4: Phytoavailability of Potassium 4.1 Acquisition and Uptake by Plants 4.2 Transport and Accumulation: Underlying Players 4.3 Factors Affecting Potassium Availability to Plants 4.3.1 Soil Factors 4.3.2 Fertilizer and Crop Management Practices 4.3.3 Abiotic Stresses References 5: Potassium Evaluation in Soils 5.1 Visual Observations of Plants 5.2 Soil Testing 5.3 Plant Tissue Analysis References 6: Potash for Quality of Agricultural Commodities 6.1 Cereals 6.2 Sugar Crops 6.3 Vegetables 6.4 Fruits References 7: Potassium Biofortification and Human Nutrition 7.1 Significance of Potassium for Human Health 7.1.1 Blood Pressure 7.1.2 Cardiovascular Disease 7.1.3 Bones Health 7.1.4 Kidney Health 7.2 Potassium in Human Diet 7.3 Importance of K Biofortification of Staple Crops References 8: Potash Research in Pakistan 8.1 Crop Responses to Applied Potash 8.2 Sources and Methods of Potash Application 8.3 Potash Under Salinity and Other Abiotic Stresses 8.3.1 Potassium and Salinity Stress 8.3.2 Potassium and Water Stress 8.3.3 Potassium and Cold Stress 8.4 Potash to Reduce Crop Lodging 8.5 Potash for Biotic Stresses 8.5.1 Potassium and Pathogens 8.6 Potash for Sustainable Agriculture References 9: Use of Potash in Pakistan 9.1 Green Revolution and Status of Potash Use 9.2 Crop-Wise Fertilizer Use 9.3 Recommendations of Potash for Crops 9.4 Causes of Low Potassium Fertilizer Use 9.4.1 Lack of Awareness About Balanced Fertilizer Use Concept 9.4.2 Canal Irrigation Water Supplies Sufficient Potash: A Common Misconception 9.4.3 General Crops Fertilizers Recommendations 9.4.4 Fertilizer Prices and Availability of K Fertilizer 9.4.5 Instability in Market Prices of Agricultural Produce References 10: Strategies to Improve Potash Use in Pakistan 10.1 Elimination of Misconceptions 10.2 Creating Awareness Among Farmers 10.3 Subsidizing Potash Fertilizers 10.4 Developing Economic Potassium Recommendations 10.5 Export Quality Agricultural Productions 10.6 Quality-Based Prices for Agricultural Commodities in Local Markets 10.7 Role of International Organization References 11: Future Research Perspectives 11.1 Precise Potassium Recommendations 11.2 Potential Use of MOP in Pakistan 11.3 Use of Polyhalite-A Newly Introduced Multi-nutrient Natural Fertilizer 11.4 Use of Potassium for Abiotic Stress Tolerance 11.5 Unveiling the Effect of Potassium on Produce Quality 11.6 Potash to Improve Nitrogen Use Efficiency by Plants References Index