Nutrition Management and Planting Arrangement Improve Growth Indices and Yield of Two Virginia Tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L.) Cultivars

Abstract

Tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L.) is a significant cash crop in Iran. It serves as a source of income for smallholder farmers and commercial fields. In order to investigate the growth indices and yield of two Virginia tobacco cultivars an experiment was conducted in a split factorial based on RCBD design with eight treatments and three replicates during the 2020 cropping seasons. The treatments consisted of two application methods of N and K fertilizer (soil and foliar application), planting arrangement (double- and single-row) in the main plot and two Virginia tobacco cultivars (TC100 and NC100) in the sub-plot. Results showed that the highest value of tobacco leaf area index (LAI), crop growth rate (CGR), relative growth rate (RGR), and total dry matter (TDM) were recorded where TC100 cultivar planted in double-row spacing and sprayed with N and K nutrients. Conversely, the lowest values of LAI, CGR, RGR and TDM were recorded where the NTC100 cultivar was planted in single-row spacing and received soil application of N and K. The overall results indicated that double-row and foliar application of N and K fertilizers could improve tobacco growth indices and ultimately its yield.

Keywords

• foliar fertilizer
• nicotine
• planting density
• potassium
• top dressing fertilizer
• two-row cultivation