BURN RELATED POTASSIUM, CURED LEAF QUALITY AND PRODUCTIVITY AS AFFECTED BY POTASSIUM LEVELS IN FCV TOBACCO CULTIVARS GROWN IN KARNATAKA LIGHT SOILS

Abstract

Among the major nutrients potassium plays an important role in increasing the leaf size, leaf colour and quality parameters of FCV tobacco by affecting the various biochemical processes. The burn related K (organically bound K in the tobacco leaf) in cured leaf which is directly related to the leaf burn of cigarette is largely determined by the amount of K uptake by the tobacco plant which depends on the growing environments. FCV tobacco grown in Karnataka Light Soils (KLS) are of typical sandy to sandy loam in nature with inherently low fertility. Recent studies have shown that there is a faster depletion of available K status in these soils owing to the removal of the nutrient by continuous FCV tobacco cultivation (Krishnamurthy et al., 2007). The cultivation of high yielding varieties like Kanchan coupled with potential K losses in these soils do affect the optimum uptake and desired K concentration levels in leaf for optimum burn. Maintenance of sufficient potassium levels in soil for tobacco cultivation plays an important role for sustaining the productivity and quality of FCV tobacco. Hence, an attempt was made to study the influence of different levels of K application on the cured leaf productivity, leaf chemistry and burn related K in two popular FCV tobacco cultivars (Kanchan and Rathna) grown in KLS.