Sulphur fertilization enhanced yield, its uptake, use efficiency and economic returns of Aloe vera L

Md Akhter Hossain Chowdhury; Taslima Sultana; Md Arifur Rahman; Biplob Kumar Saha; Tanzin Chowdhury; Subrata Tarafder

doi:10.1016/j.heliyon.2020.e05726

Sulphur fertilization enhanced yield, its uptake, use efficiency and economic returns of Aloe vera L

Heliyon. 2020 Dec 18;6(12):e05726. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2020.e05726. eCollection 2020 Dec.

Authors

Md Akhter Hossain Chowdhury¹, Taslima Sultana¹, Md Arifur Rahman², Biplob Kumar Saha¹, Tanzin Chowdhury³, Subrata Tarafder¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Agricultural Chemistry, Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh 2202, Bangladesh.
² Department of Agricultural Chemistry, Khulna Agricultural University, Khulna 9100, Bangladesh.
³ Graduate School of Science and Engineering, Saitama University, Saitama, Japan.

Abstract

Sulphur plays a vital role in the formation and biosynthesis of protein, chlorophyll, and few amino acids. To investigate the effect of sulphur fertilizer on leaf biomass yield, critical sulphur concentration, sulphur requirement and uptake by Aloe vera L., a pot experiment was carried out following completely randomized design with six levels of sulphur viz., 0, 15, 30, 45, 60 and 80 kg ha^-1 with three replications. The results of the study revealed that the growth attributes, leaf and gel yield, and sulphur uptake significantly improved with sulphur application and the best results were obtained from the application of 45 kg sulphur ha^-1. On average, addition of sulphur enhanced the leaf biomass yield by 47.5% and sulphur use efficiency by 38% compared to control. The effect of sulphur on the growth parameters and their significant and positive correlations with yield signifies the importance of sulphur on the yield and quality of A. vera. The calculated minimum amount of sulphur for 80% leaf biomass production was 21.1 kg sulphur ha^-1 with a critical leaf sulphur concentration of 0.23% in A. vera. Moreover, sulphur addition to soil substantially enhanced the economic returns of A. vera. Therefore, addition of 45 kg sulphur ha^-1 could be a better option for obtaining higher yield and economic return of A. vera.

Keywords: Agricultural policy; Agricultural soil science; Agricultural technology; Agronomy; Aloe vera L.; Critical sulphur concentration; Leaf yield; Soil science; Sulphur requirement; Sulphur use efficiency.