The influence of different types and doses of fertilizers on the formation of the structure of the yield of soft winter wheat variety ‘KWS Emil’ and line ‘Prino’

Abstract

Purpose. To study the development of the yield structure of soft winter wheat varieties of different maturity under different types and doses of fertilizer. Methods. Studies on the development of the yield structure of soft winter wheat as a function of variety and fertilizer were carried out at the Uman National University of Horticulture in 2020–2022. Results. The soft winter wheat variety ‘KWS Emil’ formed the maximum number of stems in the phase of  in all years of research – 693–948 pcs/m2 depending on the experimental variant. The phase of BBCH 50 in 2020 was characterized by a decrease in the number of stems to 533–639 pcs/m2 (or 1.5–1.6 times compared to BBCH 30), BBCH 93 – by an increase from 513 (in the control variant, without fertilizer) to 584–616 pcs/m2 (with the introduction of 75–150 kg/ha of nitrogen fertilizer per year). In the control variant, the average (for three years of research) weight of grains per ear of the variety ‘KWS Emil’ was 1.29 g. With the application of 75 kg/ha of nitrogen ferti­lizer, it increased to 1.39 g; N75P30K40 – to 1.47 g, or 14% compared to the control; double dose of complete mineral ferti­lizer – to the level of the variant with N75P30K40; N150 – to 1.37 g, or 6% compared to the control. The grain weight per ear of soft winter wheat ‘Prino’ varied on average during the research from 1.62 to 1.83 g and was significantly higher than that of the variety ‘KWS Emil’. Conclusions. The number of productive stems is highly dependent on the nitrogen content of the fertilizer. Thus, if in the control variety of ‘KWS Emil’ there were 420–513 stems/m2, the introduction of N150P60K80 increased the number to 562–624 stems/m2. The number of productive stems of the ‘Prino’ line varied from 209–432 to 277–613 pcs/m2. This line was also characterised by a higher weight and number of grains per ear than ‘KWS Emil’. The use of nitrogen fertilizer systems for plants of ‘KWS Emil’ variety contributed to the formation of grain weight in one ear at the level of 1.37–1.39 g with the number of grains 35.7–36.1 pcs.