Affiliation:
1. University of Agriculture
2. Northwest A&F University
3. Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University
4. AYDIN ADNAN MENDERES ÜNİVERSİTESİ, KOÇARLI MESLEK YÜKSEKOKULU
5. Faisalabad
Abstract
Optimal nitrogen (N) application rate, source and timing are important to achieve high wheat yield. Overdose of N as basal dose promotes excessive vegetative growth and delays maturity, resulting in low N use efficiency (NUE) and crop yield. The current study was conducted for two years (2018-2019 and 2019-2020) to examine the influence of various N sources viz., common-urea, Zn-coated urea, neem-coated urea, and polymer-coated urea and their application methods (basal- and split-application) on the growth, physiology, yield, and related traits in wheat under semi-arid conditions. Results showed that N sources and application methods significantly affected the growth, physiological and yield-related traits; neem-coated urea applied in splits remained the most effective source for the observed traits, followed by Zn-coated, polymer-coated, and common urea. Compared with common urea, neem-coated urea significantly increased chlorophyll (Chl) and carotenoid contents under basal and split application. Neem-coated urea also recorded higher biological and grain yields than other
treatments which were associated with higher values of yield-related traits including the number of productive tillers, number of spikelets, and number of grains per spike. For N application methods, split application significantly improved the plant height, Chl pigments, yield- and yield-related traits compared with the basal application. In conclusion, neem-coated urea application as a split application performed well followed by Zncoated and polymer-coated urea in improving the growth and overall yield.
Funder
Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Publisher
Turkish Journal of Field Crops
Subject
Agronomy and Crop Science