Yield Response of Groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.) to Boron, Calcium, Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Potassium Fertilizer Application

Background and Objective: The decline in soil fertility in the smallholder farmersʼ fields has resulted in low kernel yields in Zambia.Therefore, a field study was conducted to improve kernel yields by assessing the effect of B, Ca, N, P and K fertilizer application on groundnuts.Materials and Methods: A field trial was conducted at Golden Valley Agricultural Trust (GART) in Chisamba District of Zambia for two consecutive growing seasons of 2014/15 and 2015/16.The field experiment was laid out in a randomised complete block design with three replications.Randomisation of the following treatments was done per block: (i) No fertilizer, (ii) N 20 , (iii) N 20 P 30 , (iv) N 20 P 30 Ca 100 , (v) N 20 P 30 Ca 100 K 40 and (vi) N 20 P 30 Ca 100 K 40 B 1 .The numbers in subscript indicate rates of the nutrients in kg haG 1 .Analysis of variance was used to analyse the data.Results: Compared to the control (0 kg haG 1 ), groundnuts responded to the application of N 20 P 30 Ca 100 K 40 B 1 kg haG 1 to result in an increase of Ca uptake by 21%, N uptake by 55.5% and P uptake by 51%. .The response of groundnuts to N 20 P 30 Ca 100 kg haG 1 resulted in an increase in kernels by 65.5% and haulm yield by 83.4%.Conclusion: The uptake of nutrient-elements by MGV 5 depended on application of all the nutrients at the rate of Ca 100 N 20 P 30 K 40 B 1 kg haG 1 .The appropriate rate of Ca, N and P fertilizers vital in attaining optimum kernel and haulm yields on a low fertility status acid soils in Zambia and areas with similar agro-ecological conditions is Ca 100 N 20 P 30 kg haG 1 .