Alleviation of Water Stress, Increase Growth, Yield and Quality of Mungbean through Potassium Fertilization

The research was conducted at the net house, Department of Soil Science, Patuakhali Science and Technology University during February to April 2025 to evaluate the effects of potassium fertilization on the growth, yield, and drought tolerance of mungbean (Vigna radiata L., var. BINA Mung-5). A pot experiment was laid out in a Complete Randomized Design (CRD) with seven potassium levels (0, 1.5, 3.0, 4.5, 6.0, 7.5, and 9.0 g K per 10 kg soil) with three replications. The study assessed a range of agronomic characters including plant height, number of branches per plant, number of leaves per plant, number of flowers per plant, root and shoot biomass, number of pods and seeds per pod, pod length, thousand seed weight, and seed yield under controlled moisture conditions. Results revealed that moderate levels of potassium significantly improved growth and reproductive parameters compared to the control. Specifically, treatments with 7.5 and 6.0 g K per 10 kg soil exhibited superior performance in shoot and root biomass, pod number, seed set, and seed weight. Conversely, both potassium deficiency and excessive potassium resulted in reduced growth and yield attributes. The results highlight the critical role of potassium in improving water stress resilience, vegetative vigor, and reproductive success in mungbean. This study highlights the importance of balanced potassium nutrition as a low-cost agronomic strategy to enhance mungbean productivity, especially in drought-prone and salt-affected coastal areas of Bangladesh.

Keywords: Water Stress; Potassium Fertilization; Yield and Quality of Mungbean.