The effects of nitrogen fertilization on the yield and quality of two burley tobacco varieties

An experiment was conducted in 1978 at the University of Tennessee Tobacco Experiment Station, Greeneville, Tennessee, to study the effects of nitrogen fertilization on the yield and quality of two burley tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L.) varieties, namely Va 509 and Ky 17. The experimental design was a split plot with the rates of nitrogen fertilization being the main plots and the varieties the sub-plots. No significant differences were found for yield, crop index and grade index between the two varieties or among the different nitrogen fertilization rates. The tobacco varieties were not significantly influenced by the nitrogen rates although changing the levels of nitrogen fertilization significantly increased the concentrations of total nitrogen and nicotine and significantly decreased the amount of chloride in the cured leaf. Nitrogen rates had a tendency to decrease leaf potassium and increase leaf calcium but these differences were not significant.