PROFIT MAXIMIZING LEVEL OF POTASSIUM FERTILIZER IN WHEAT PRODUCTION UNDER ARID ENVIRONMENT

A field experiment was conducted at Farmers field on adaptive research station Mianwali during Rabi 2006-07 and 2007-08, to evaluate the response of wheat variety BK-2002 to various levels of fertilizers. The experiment was laid out in Randomized Complete Block Design having three replications. Significant (p=0.05) response of potassium application on wheat was observed on tillering, number of spikelets per spike, number of grains per spike, 1000-grain weight and yield with the increase of K2O up to 93 kg ha -1 . The pooled data of two year revealed that maximum 1000-grain weight (47.83 g) and yield (4533 kg ha -1 ) were achieved by the application of 93 kg of K2O ha -1 on wheat crop. All other levels of K2O application showed a decrease in the parameters of wheat production. Regression analysis of the pooled data depicted a significant (p<0.01) parabolic trend and linear trend of increase in wheat yield in 2006-07 and 2007-08 respectively.