Balanced Fertilization Improves Fiber Yield and Quality of Winter Flax (<i>Linum usitatissimum</i> L.)

Abstract

Winter fiber flax has been planted in a large area in Yunnan Province, the southwestern part of China, and other areas of the world, but little is known about the influence of fertilization on the fiber yield and quality . For that, a two-factor experiment in random block designed was carried out by specifying nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) as factor A, boron (B), manganese (Mn), copper (Cu), zinc (Zn) and molybdenum (Mo) as factor B each in four levels and their complete combinations. With the increase of N, P and K fertilizers, the yields of long-fiber and total-fiber obvi ously increased resulting from the increased straw yield, although the portion of retted-stem in straw, contents of long fiber and total-fiber decreased. The fiber tensile strength and flexibility increased as well. The micronutrients applica tion increased the yields of straw, long-fiber and total-fiber, but gave no influence to fiber content and the fiber qualities. Combinations of the macronutrients and micronutrients gave obvious influences to the yields of straw and fiber, con tents of long-fiber and total-fiber, fiber fineness and tensile strength, but little influence to the fiber flexibility. The fe r tilizers formula A2B2, i.e. N-P 2 O 5 -K 2 O 172.8, 28.8 172.8 kg/hm 2 , Zn-Cu-B-M-Mo 2363, 1654, 236, 2363,165 g/hm 2 , was the best, yielding most in the straw, long-fiber and total-fiber, with synchronous improvement of the three quality indices.