Beena Saeed

Forage yield of berseem ( Trifolium alaxandrium ) as affected by phosphorus and potassium fertilization

This research was conducted with the aim to quantify the effect of phosphorus and potassium fertilization on forage yield of berseem (Trifolium alaxandrium ). The experiment was carried out at the Research Farm of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Agricultural University Peshawar, Pakistan during the cropping season of 2004 to 2005. Randomized complete block design (RCBD) having four replications was used for the experiment. Significant differences were found among the treatments for number of branches per plant, fresh forage yield and dry forage yield. The highest number of branches per plant (9.15), fresh forage yield (6077 kg ha -1 ) and dry forage yield (156.83 kg ha -1 ) were recorded in plots with 60 kg P ha -1 x 30 kg K ha -1 treatments, while the lowest values of 6.93, 5430 kg ha -1 and 153.80 kg ha -1 for branches per plant, fresh forage yield and dry forage yield, respectively were recorded in the plots with no fertilizer (control). Emergence (m -2 ) and plant height of berseem were non-significantly affected by phosphorus and potassium fertilization. So, it was concluded that berseem showed better performance in terms of higher forage yield under 60 kg P ha -1 x 30 kg K ha -1 levels in Peshawar valley.

Effect of phosphorus and potassium on seed production of berseem

A research study was conducted to find out the effect of phosphorus and potassium on seed production performance of berseem Egyptian clover ( Trifolium alexandrinum L) which belongs to the family Papilionaceae. The experiment was conducted at Research Farm of Khyber Paktunkhwa, Agricultural University Peshawar, Pakistan during 2004 to 2005. The experiment was carried out in randomized complete block design (RCBD) with four replications. Treatments including phosphorus (30, 60 and 90 kg P ha -1 ) and potassium (0, 30 and 60 kg K ha -1 ) were applied to berseem. These treatments produced significant effect on the number of heads (m -2 ), number of seeds head -1 , biological yield (kg ha -1 ), seed yield (kg ha -1 ) and thousand seed weight (g). Maximum number of heads (2430 m -2 ), number of seeds head -1 (41.50), biological yield (1310 kg ha -1 ), seed yield (240 kg ha -1 ) and thousand seed weight (2.18 g) were recorded in plots having 60 kg P ha -1 x 30 kg K ha -1 , while minimum number of seeds (1680 m -2 ), number of seeds head -1 (30.06), biological yield (1072 kg ha -1 ), seed yield (120kg ha -1 ) and thousand seed weight (1.90g) were obtained from plots having no fertilizers (control or 0 kg ha -1 ). The findings of this study shows that berseem had better performance in terms of seed production when fertilized with of 60 kg P ha -1 and 30 kg K ha -1 in irrigated areas of Peshawar valley. Key words: Berseem, seed production, phosphorus, potassium.