Role of Potassium in Barley Plant Stand Architecture and Yield Formation

• Published in: Communications in Soil Science and Plant Analysis Vol. 43; no. 20; pp. 2603 - 2614
• Main Authors: Mäkelä, Pirjo S. A, Manninen-Egilmez, Petra, Santanen, Arja, Kleemola, Jouko
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Philadelphia, PA Taylor & Francis Group 01.11.2012; Taylor & Francis; Taylor & Francis Ltd
• Subjects: Agronomy. Soil science and plant productions; application rate; Architecture; barley; barley straw; Biological and medical sciences; crop yield; filling period; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; leaf area; Plant stand architecture; potassium; wheat; Barley; Monocotyledones; Architecture; Hordeum vulgare; Cereal crop; Triticum; Gramineae; Angiospermae; Spermatophyta; Yield; wheat; Potassium; Plant stand architecture
• ISSN: 1532-2416; 0010-3624; 1532-2416; 1532-4133
• DOI: 10.1080/00103624.2012.716123

Potassium (K) plays a significant role in preventing outbreaks of pathogenic infections and thereby maintains the photosynthetic leaf area, which supplies assimilates for grain filling. The aim of this research was to investigate the role of K in barley straw anatomy, plant stand architecture, and yield formation. Growth and yield of barley improved with increasing K application rates. This appeared to be due to increased number of spike-bearing tillers, number of grains per spike, and single-grain weight. Straw and walls of cuticle, epidermis, and sclerenchymatous cells thickened in relation to applied K. Thick and firm internodes as well as efficient use of resources resulting from K applications are among key features for good-quality crop production in the field.