Abstract:

To investigate the effects of soil amendments on field growth and development of flue-cured tobacco, a field experiment was conducted from April to October 2023 in Shuangbai, Chuxiong, Yunnan Province. Four treatments were established, including no fertilization (NF), conventional compound fertilizer (CK), conventional compound fertilizer + soil conditioner (CF+SC), and 20% nitrogen reduction + soil conditioner (RN+SC), with three replicates, total 12 treatments. Agronomic traits, nutrient content, yield and quality were analyzed at 45, 65 and 120 days after transplanting. The results showed that on 45 d, compared to CK, the treatment of CF+SC was significantly increased in plant height, stem circumference, internode length, and maximum leaf area, which was 8.85%, 4.4%, 3.31%, and 14.82% higher, separately. CK and RN+SC ranked second. In terms of nutrient content, local conventional fertilization + soil conditioner treatment was significantly increased the dry weight and fresh weight of tobacco plants under the conditions of this experiment. On 65 d, the fresh weight of conventional fertilization + soil conditioner and nitrogen reduction 20%+soil conditioner soil conditioner treatment was significantly higher than that of no fertilization treatment, and the dry weight of nitrogen reduction 20%+soil conditioner soil conditioner treatment was significantly higher than that of CK and no fertilization treatment. In terms of nutrient absorption by flue-cured tobacco plants, after 120 days of transplanting, the nitrogen and phosphorus uptake of the CK treatment increased by 13.60% and 11.28% respectively compared to the conventional fertilization + soil conditioner treatment. The conventional fertilization + soil conditioner treatment significantly increased the output value, yield, average price, and proportion of high-quality tobacco compared to CK by 41.67%, 32.44%, 8.77%, and 39.31%, respectively. In summary, the application of soil amendments in addition to conventional fertilization in Chuxiong flue-cured tobacco growing areas could significantly promote the field growth of ‘K326’, improve tobacco yield, quality, and economic benefits. While reducing nitrogen by 20% with amendments could lower nitrogen and phosphorus uptake, it can still maintain high biomass accumulation and has the potential to save fertilizer and increase efficiency

Key words: flue-cured tobacco, soil conditioner, growth and development, tobacco, yield and quality, Chuxiong