Surat: Fertilizers with high potassium content in farms located in areas that are chronically short of water can help increase paddy yield. Ireland and Belgium produce three times more yield of paddy compared to countries in South Asia because the fertilizers farmers there use have high potassium content, an essential plant nutrient , says a research report. Water availability for agriculture will reduce by 15 per cent by 2025 in the country for various reasons, and thus use of fertilizers with high potassium content in farms will only help save the day for us.Dipika Patel, a graduate student of department of genetics and plant breeding, in her research report done under the guidance of Dr Kirti Bardhan and Dr Dhiraj P Patel of Navsari Agricultural University (NAU), says fertilizers with high potassium content in areas facing moisture deficit condition, help rice plant (Variety NAUR-1) produce roots with a significant reduction of root area, average density, maximum width of the root system, and width-to-depth ratio but with increase in the rooting depth as the plant roots grow deep in search of water.“This leads to better absorption of water by the roots and results in better yield. We need to have higher potassium content in fertilizers to increase the yield which has got reduced in the past few years,” Dr Kirti Bardhan said.“Application of higher doses of potassium through fertilizers will substantially nullify the negative effects of water stress at mild water stress condition. With higher amount of potassium in fertilizers, rice seedling roots are able to maintain narrow root top and bottom angle under moisture stress which help the plant to explore a wider surface area for water and nutrients,” he added.Soil in Gujarat is receptive to fertilizers with high potassium content except for sandy and hilly areas, Dr Bardhan said, adding that there is need to refine fertilizer doses with inclusion of potassic fertilizers during farming.He said nitrogen potassium (NK) ratio in global fertilizer use has deteriorated in the last 20 years to become unbalanced. Developing countries in general have a less balanced NK ratio in fertilizer use than the developed countries.

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