Effect of nitrogen fertilization rate and type of nitrogen fertilizer on agronomic and morphological traits of flue-cured tobacco

Sa？etak The aim of this study was to determine the effect of nitrogen (N) fertilization rate of 30 and 45 N kg/ha, as well as three commercial N fertilizers, CaNO3 (15% N), KAN (27% N) and YaraMilaTM Cropcare (8:11:23) on the agronomic traits: yield, price, and value, as well as six morphological traits of flue-cured tobacco. The field experiments, which included three Croatian tobacco cultivars, were conducted in four environments. Nitrogen fertilization had a significant effect only on yield components: length, width and area of the 9th leaf, whose values for fertilization with 45 kg N/ha were 2.2%, 3.5%, and 5.8% higher, respectively, compared to fertilization with 30 kg N/ha. The type of N fertilizer did not have a significant effect on any of the traits. The pattern of correlations between morphological and economic traits was influenced by the environment, as well as by the level of fertilization. Although no effect of fertilization level on economic traits was found, the significant increase in yield components at 45 kg N/ha compared to 30 kg N/ha suggests a higher level of fertilization as a guarantee of ensuring high and stable yields and quality of the cured leaf