Influence of Different Soil Types and Sulphur Fertilizer Rates on Performance of Pea (Pisum sativum L.)

Abstract

Sulphur is considered a neglected plant nutrient. However, soil scientists and plant nutritionists are increasingly investigating the nutritional value of sulphur due to its significant role in crop production. A green-house experiment was carried out at North-West University Research Farm to investigate the effect of soil types and sulphur fertilizer rates on the performance of pea. The experiment design was 4 × 2 factorial fitted in a randomized complete block design with four replications. The treatment factors included two soil types and four sulphur fertilizer rates. Plant performance was evaluated by examining parameters such as plant height, numbers of leaves, branches, flowers, pods/plants, pod length, pod mass and seed mass. The pea planted on sandy soil at 56 and 70 DAP achieved heights of 13.82 and 20.7 cm, respectively. The pea supplied with 60 kgS/ha had highest number of leaves (25.10 and 42.20) at 56 and 70 DAP. The highest number of pods/plants (1.00) was recorded in pea cultivated on sandy loam. Pea fertilized with 90 kgS/ha had the highest number of pods/plants (4.04) and seed mass (0.82 g). Notably, soil types were positively and significantly associated with yield parameters (R2 = 0.5630 and 0.5214). Sulphur fertilizer rates were positively but not significantly associated with growth and yield parameters of pea. This showed that sandy loam was suitable for the performance of pea. The sulphur rate at 60 kg S/ha enhanced the growth of pea while 90 kg S/ha improved yield production of pea.

Keywords

sulphur fertilizer rates / soil types / seed mass / pod length / pea

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