Crop Res.

4 (1) : 1-10 (1991)

Printed in India

Effect o f nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium on the performance o f

sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.)

B. T A N IM U 1, J. Y. Y A Y O C K 2, A N D S. G . A D O 3
Institute for Agricultural Research
Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Nigeria

ABSTRACT

T h e re sp o n se o f sunflow er cv. Is a a rk a to fe rtiliz a tio n in N o rth e rn G u in e a

S a v a n n a o f N ig e ria w as exam in ed using fo u r ra te s o f n itro g e n (0 , 50, 100 a n d 150 kg
N /h a ), th re e ra te s o f p h o sp h o ru s (0, 50 a n d 100 kg P 20 5/h a ) a n d tw o ra te s o f
p o ta s siu m (0 a n d 30 k g K aO /h a ). N itro g e n a p p lic a tio n sig n ifican tly increased p la n t
h e ig h t, h e a d d ia m e te r a n d g ra in y ield . A p p lic a tio n o f p h o s p h o ru s a ls o significantly
in creased g ra in yield w h ile a p p lic a tio n o f p o ta s siu m in c re a se d g ra in yield in 1987
only. F o r o p tim u m g ra in y ield , th e re su lts suggest th a t 100 kg N , 50 kg P 2O s and
30 kg K 20 p e r h e c ta re sh o u ld be a p p lie d .

Key W ords : Helianthus annuus L -, n itro g e n , p h o sp h o ru s, p o ta s siu m , sunflow er, yield

INTRODUCTION

Nitrogen, (N), Phosphorus (P) and Potassium (K) are the three most
important nutrient elements required by crop plants from the soil. Although it
has been pointed out by several workers that best yields were obtained when N, P
and K were combined. The increase in N alone could bring about significant increases
in sunflower grain yield and other growth parameters such as head and seed size,
dry matter accumulation and plant height (Zubriski and Zimmerman, 1974).
Lozanovic and Stanojevic (1988) and Steer (1988) reported that under low levels
of N in soil, root mass increased over a wide range of N levels (0-150 kg N/ha)
and root size was found to be at an inverse proportion with N levels. Massey (1971)
observed delayed growth of sunflower when high N levels were used. In the
literature, optimum levels of N per hectare reported were 25 kg (Blancket e l al.
1986), 56 kg (Massey, 1971), 80 kg (Pal, 1981), 90 kg (Lozanovic and Stanojevic,
1988) and 150 kg N (Singh and Pachera, 1981).
Phosphorus alone was found to have no effect on seed yield but when applied
with N and/or K, it increases the grain yield of sunflower (Zubriski and Zimmerman,
1974; Singh and Pachera, (1981). However, the reports on K have been conflicting.
Zubriski and Zimmerman (1974) found both P and K to have no effect on seed
yield. Tanimu e t al. (1986) found K to be depressive while Salama (1987) found K
to increase yields on calcareous soils. Sunflower is a newly introduced crop to
h 2 and 3 : R e se a rc h F ello w in A g ro n o m y , P ro fesser o f A g ro n o m y a n d R e se a rc h F e llo w in P la n t
B reeding
 2 Tanimu, Yayock and Ado

Nigeria, the need to determine the crop’s nutrient requirements becomes imperative.
Keeping this in view, present studies were conducted to determine the optimum levels
of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium for sunflower cultivation under agro-climatic
conditions of Samaru, Nigeria.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
The experiment was conducted at the Institute for Agricultural Research
Farm, Samaru, Nigeria on a sandy loam soil during the 1987 and 1988 wet seasons.
The location receives an average annua) rainfal of 1100 mm and has a mean monthly
air temperatures varying from 21.8°C in January to 28.3°C in April, with an annual
average of 24.4°C. Composite samples of the top soil (0-20 cm depth) were taken
from the experimental fields and analysed for their chemical and physical properties
(Table 1) using common procedures (Black, 1965).
Table I . P hysical and chem ical properties o f the experim ental soils

Ite m s 1887 1988

P h y sical com position (%,)

C la y 17 16

S ilt 34 30

Sand 49 54

T e x tu ra l class S andy lo a m S andy lo a m

C hem ical C om position (% }

p H ( H 20 > 5.50 5.70

p H ’ (C a C le ) 4 .5 0 5.00

©. C a rb o n (% ) 0.30 0.52

A v a ila b le P (p p m ) 5,13. 6.51

T o t a l ? (.ppm) 27.80 24 58

T o ta l' N (% ) 0.03 0 04

E xchangeable bases. (Meqi/lOOg swiFjS

Cc? 0.44 0.62

M'g: 8 .2 6 0.41

K, 0 09 0 18

Ns 8 .0 7 0.09

T o ta l1 0.85 1.30

CEC 4.20’ 5.40

T o ta l K 39.36 40.92

T o ta l K (% )’ 1.54 1.60
 Response o f sunflower to N, P and K 3

The treatments included 4 levels of nitrogen (0, 50, 100 and 150 kg N/ha),
3 levels of phosphorus (0, 50 and 100 kg P20 5/ha) and 2 levels of potassium (0 and
30 kg K20/ha). The design of the experiment was a randomised complete block with
three replications. Nitrogen was applied through CAN (26% N) along the rows
by making shallow grooves about 5-10 cm away from the seedlings two weeks after
sowing. Phosphorus and potassium were applied as single superphosphate (18%
P2 Os) and muriate of potash (60% K20 ), respectively before planting.
Seeds of Isaarka variety of sunflower were sown on June 17 and 29 during
1987 and 1988, respectively on ridges 75 cm apart at 30 cm intra-row spacing.
Two plants per stand were left after thinning during the first weeding which was
done two weeks after sowing in both years. A plot consisted of six ridges, each
4 m long. The four inner ridges constituted the net plot from which ten plants
were randomly tagged and used for measurements of height, leaf number and head
diameter. The net plot was used to recored the seed yield.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Table 2 indicate that the crop grew taller in 1987 than in 1988 eventhough
more rains were received in 1988 than in 1987. It might be due to variable amount
of rainfall recieved after the crop was planted during both the years. More
rain fell in July, 1987 (Table 3). The differences observed for plant height were
significant in both 1987 and 1988 as a result of different nitrogen levels. It was
observed that plots treated with the highest dose of nitrogen (150 kg N/ha) had
the tallest plants followed by 100 kg N/ha in both years. This was expected
because one of the functions of nitrogen in plants is the enhancement of vegetative
growth. Zubriski and Zimmerman (1974) stated that nitrogen alone could
increase plant height among other characters while Lozanovic and Stanojevic
(1988) observed that N dose did not bear any effect on height. In both years,
phosphorus and potassium did not affect the plant height significantly. The
application of 150 kg N, 100 kg P2 Os and 30 kg K20 /h a resulted in the tallest
plants in 1987. In 1988, however, the application of 150 kg N, 50 kg P2 Os and
30 kg K20 /h a resulted in significantly taller plants. The number of days to
50% flowering was not affected by the application of nitrogen, phosphorus and
potassium or their combinations in both years (Table 4). This is in contrary to the
findings of Massey (1971) who observed delayed growth of the crop when high
N levels were applied. According to Lozanovic and Stanojevic (1988),
increasing levels o fN from 30 to 150 kg N/ha did not have any effect on the
dynamics of plant development including flowering and maturation. Like plant
height, there were more number of leaves in 1987 than in 1988 (Table 5). It might
be due to the favourable weather during the vegetative growth of the plants which
resulted in the higher number of leaves per plant at flowering. In 1987, the
application of nitrogen tended to reduce the number of leaves eventhough the
Table 2. Plant height (cm) o f sunflower as influenced by nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium

1987 1988
T re a tm e n t 0 50 P20 3 100 P 2O g M ean S E (ro )± 0 50 P 2O s loo p3o 5 M ean S E m ( ± )
0 30 K aO 0 30 K 20 0 30 K aO 0 30 K 20 0 30 K aO 0 30 K aO

Tanimu» Yayock and Add

N itro g e n ( k g /h a )
0 143.4 140,2 144.2 142.0 143,2 142,4 142.6 109.2 118.0 127.6 128.3 112,6 120.6 122.7

30 156.5 149,8 149.3 150.7 150.3 149.7 151.1 2.33* 133.6 130.4 129.7 136.3 128,8 133.7 132.1

100 167 6 159.9 162.4 166.7 165.7 168.8 165.2 146.7 139.3 139.7 140.8 147.8 148.8 143.9 3,90*

J 50 168.9 169.2 168.3 168.7 162.3 172.8 168.4 153,2 157.6 149.6 158.8 156.6 158.6 155,7

M ean 159.1 154,8 156.1 157.Q 155.4 158.4 140.7 136.3 136.7 141.0 136.5 140.5

S E m (± ) 3.48* 4.77*

M ean 157.0 156,6 156.9 138.5 138.9 138.5

S E m (± ) 2.30* 3.38*

* : N o t S ig n ifican t

** ; S ignificant a t P ;= 0.05
 Response o f sunflower to N, P and K 5

Table 3. Rainfall distribution (cm) at 10 day interval in Samaru during the period o f study

M o n th D ays 1987 1988

M ay 1-10 0 0
11-20 0 35.4
21-31 135.7 59.0
Ju n e 1-10 85.1 47.3
11-20 16.2 17.2
21-30 45.2 68.7

Ju ly 1-10 52.3 50.8

11-20 106.4 48.2
21-31 118.0 82.5
A u g u st 1-10 105.4 500.4
11-20 75.2 107.9
21-31 87.4 194.2

S eptem ber 1-10 33.0 76.5

11-20 57.1 71.0
21-30 12.0 44.8

O c to b e r 1-10 42.6 114.7

11-20 0 0
21-31 0 0

S o u rc e : M e te o ro lo g ic a l S ta tio n . S a m a ru , N ig e ria

differences were not statistically significant. In 1988, however, no definite trend

was observed and the differences were not significant. It was observed that both
phosphorus and potassium did not significantly affect the number of leaves in both
years. The interactions (Table 6) between N and P indicates that application of
100 kg N and 50 kg P2 0 5/ha resulted in significantly higher number of leaves in
1987. Like the plant height, head diameter was found to be bigger in 1987 than in
1988 (Table 6). The application of 100 kg N/ha in 1987 resulted in the biggest
heads while the application of 150 kg N/ha gave the biggest heads in 1988. In both
years, significantly smaller heads were obtained from the control plots where no
nitrogen was applied.
Grain yields were generally higher in 1987 than in 1988 (Table 7). It might
be due to that the crop grew more luxuriant in 1987 resulting in the formation of
larger heads (Table 6) which produced more grains.
The application of 100 kg N/ha in both years resulted in significantly higher
yields as compared to other nitrogen treatments. Phosphorus applied @ 50 kg
 as

Table 4. Number o f days to 50 per cent flowering on sunflower as influenced by nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium

1987 1988
T re a tm e n t o p 2o 5 50 P2O s 100 p2o 5 Mean* * S E m ( ± ) 0 P2O s 50 P20 5 100 p2o 5 M ean* S E (m )±
O K jO 30 K 20 0 K 20 30 K 20 0 K 20 30 K 20 0 K 20 30 K 20 0 K 20 30 K 20 0 K aO 30 K aO

Tanimu, Yayock and Ado

N itro g en (k g /h a )

0 45 45 44 46 46 45 45 41 46 46 42 46 49 45

5 0N 46 44 44 43 44 45 44 0,77 45 47 41 49 45 49 46

100N 44 44 45 47 43 44 44 44 44 49 46 49 39 45 1.32

150N 45 44 43 45 44 45 44 49 45 46 44 45 45 45

M ean * 45 45 44 45 44 45 45 46 46 45 46 45

S E m (± ) 0.94 1.61

M ean* 45.0 44.5 44.5 45 46 46

S E m (± ) 0.66 1.14

: N o t S ignificant
Table 5. ,
Number o f leaves at flowering o f sunflower as affected by nitrogen phosphorus and potassium

1987 1988
T re a tm e n t 0 50 P2O s 100 p2o 5 M ean* S E m ( ± ) 0 50 PaO 5 100 p2o 6 M ean * S E m ( ± )
0 30 K 20 0 30 K 20 0 30 K 20 0 30 k 2o 0 30 k 2o 0 30 K aO

Resp nse of sunflower to N, P and K

N itro g en (k g /h a )

0 22 22 24 23 0 24 23 19 19 19 19 20 20 19
50 N 22 21 22 23 21 23 22 0.68 18 19 20 19 19 20 19 0.74
100 N 23 21 26 22 21 22 23 18 21 20 18 20 21 20

150 N 22 22 23 23 22 21 22 19 17 20 19 21 20 19

M ean* 22 22 23 23 22 23 19 19 20 19 20 20
SEm (±) 0.83 0.91
M ean* 22 23 23 19 20 20
S E m (± ) 0.59 0.64

* ; N o t S ig n ifican t
 oe

Tvble 6. Head diameter (cm) o f sunflower as influenced by nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium

1987 1988
T re a tp ie n t 0 50 P 8O s 100 p2o 5 M ean** S E m ( * ) 0 50 P 2O s 100 P 20 5 M ean * * S E m ( ± )
0 3 0 k 2O 0 30 K 2Q 0 30 K 20 0 30 K 20 0 30 K 2O 0 3 0 K 2O

N itro g en (k g /h a j

Tanimu, Yayock and Ada

0 J3.2 13.8 12.5 13.3 12,2 13.4 13.1 12.5 12,8 12.6 12.5 12.8 12.5 12,6

50 N 15,2 15.7 14.7 16.8 15.3 15.7 15.6 0,57 13.4 14,1 13,9 14.4 13.6 14.7 14.0 0.38

}G 0N 15.2 16.9 15,2 17.6 15.5 17.8 16.4 13.9 15.2 14.4 15.9 13.7 15.8 14.8

150 N 15.0 16.6 15.3 17.1 15,4 17.5 16.2 14,6 15.9 14.2 15,7 14.5 15.5 15.1

M e a n '1' 14.7 16.0 15.9 16.7 15,4 16,6 13.6 14.5 13,8 14.6 13.6 14.6

S E m (± ) 0,70 0.5 0

M ean* 15.4 15.8 16,0 14,1 14.2 14.1

S E m (± ) 0.50 0.33

* ; N o t S ig n ifican t
** : S ig n ifican t a t P = 0 ,0 5
Table 7. Seed yield (kg Iha) o f sunflower as influenced by nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium

1987 1988
T re a tm e n t 0 50 1pao 5 100 p2o 5 M ean * S E m (± ) 0 50P2O 5 100Pa0 5 M ean** S E m ( ± )
0 30 K 20 0 30 K aO 0 30 K aO 0 30 K aO 0 30 K gO 0 30 K 20

Response of sunflower to N, P and K

N itro g en (k g /h a)

0 1260.6 1420.6 1190.6 2015.0 929.4 901.7 1286.3 1019.0 1136.4 956,2 1130.0 1089.0 867.0 1033.1

50 N 1366.7 1429.4 1350.0 1633.9 1322.2 2827.8 1655.0 17.63 1211.2 1162.6 897.8 1041.5 1282.0 683.3 1047.4 100.90

100 N 694.0 1420.6 1908.9 3022.8 1996.3 1707.2 1798.3 1369,8 1116.7 1503.8 1532.2 1558.0 1308.0 1398.2

150 N 1743.3 1486.7 1695.0 1855.0 1429.4 2140.0 1724.9 1253.0 973.3 1217.2 1260.3 1191.0 1141.7 1173.0

M eans* 1266.2 1439.3 1535.9 2131.5 1419.3 1904.2 1214.0 1097.0 1144.0 1241.0 1280.0 1000.0

S E m (± ) 150. 33** 123. 58*

M ean* 1352.8 1833.7 1661.8 1156.0 1192 1140

S E m (± ) 93. 64** 87.,38(N S )

NS : N o t S ignificant
* a n d ** ; S ig n ifican t a t P = 0 .0 5 a n d P = 0 .0 1
 10 Tanimu, Yayock and Ado

Pa 0 6/ha gave better yields in both years, however, the differences were significant
only in 1987. The level of soil available phosphorus in 1987 was lower than in
1988 (Table 1) which might have resulted in the crop’s response to the nutrient in
1987. However, Zubriski and Zimmerman (1974) and Singh and Pachera (1981)
found that P alone had no effect on crop yields. In 1987, Potassium @ 30 kg
K20/ha gave significantly higher yields than contral where no potassium was
applied. In 1988, the application of 30 kg K20 /h a tended to depress the yield.
It might be due to the presence of higher amount of exchangeable K in soil during
1988 (Table 1). The amount of potassium in 1987 was half that of 1988 and hence
the response of the potassium was in order. Tanimu e t a l. (1986) found potassium
to be depressive on yield while Salama (1987) found it to increase yields when
applied in calcareous soil. The practical implication of these findings is that
sunflower yield can be boosted substantially by the application of 100 kg N, 50
kg P2 0 6 and 30 kg K20 /h a in the northern Guinea savanna zone of Nigeria.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The authors wish to acknowledge the help rendered by Mr. C. I. Nwosu and
Mr. Y. Isa in collecting data. Thanks are also extended to the Director, Institute
for Agricultural Research, Samaru, Nigeria for permission to publish this paper,
the contents of which form part of the research programme approved by the Board
of Governors of the Institute.
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