The effects of potassium application on uptake and allocation of nitrogen and seed protein on two lentil (Lens culinaris Medik.) cultivars in rain-fed condition

In order to study the effects of potassium application on uptake and allocation of nitrogen and seed protein on two lentil cultivars in rain-fed condition a factorial experiment based on randomized complete block design with three replications was conducted at Ardabil Research Center for Agriculture and Natural Resources، in 2008. Three potassium levels (0، 30 and 60 kg. ha-1)، three nitrogen levels (0، 25 and 50 kg. ha-1) and two lentil cultivars (local and ILL1180) were applied. Results showed that the highest seed nitrogen content، seed protein content (27. 68%) and shoot nitrogen content was obtained by application of 60 kg. ha-1 potassium. In terms of phenological traits، aspects of time to 50% emergency، time to 50% flowering and date of maturity as affected by 50 kg. ha-1 nitrogen was significantly higher than other nitrogen levels. Days to maturity، number of total pods and number of seed per plant also in such a treatment were placed in the superior group with significant difference caused production highest seed yield production (1465. 06 kg. ha-1) by using 50 kg. ha-1 N. Such a trend was observed for seed nitrogen content، seed nitrogen uptake، seed protein content، shoot nitrogen content and seed potassium uptake was found in using 50 kg. ha-1 N. In main cultivar effect، local cultivar was superior in seed potassium concentration and seed potassium uptake than ILL1180، but ILL1180 cultivar had the higher seeds per plant and shoot potassium content than local cultivar. Therefore، it seems that high positive effect of nitrogen on most traits was due to application of 60 kg. ha-1 potassium.