Impact of Press Mud and Animal Manure in Comparison with NPK on the Growth and Yield of Triticale (<i>Triticosecale wittmack</i>) Genotypes Cultivated under Various Irrigation Regimes
Ahmad Sher,
Muhammad Nawaz,
Zuhair Hasnain,
Kashf Mehmood,
Muhammad Bilal Chattha,
Muhammad Ijaz,
Abdul Sattar,
Danish Ibrar,
Saqib Bashir,
Muhammad Musawir Khan,
Safia Gul,
Sohail Irshad,
Shah Fahad,
Niaz Ahmed,
Habibullah,
Afroz Rais,
Shahbaz Khan
Affiliations
Ahmad Sher
College of Agriculture, Bahauddin Zakrya University, Bahadur Sub Campus, Layyah 31200, Pakistan
Muhammad Nawaz
Department of Agricultural Engineering, Khwaja Fareed University of Engineering and Information Technology, Rahim Yar Khan 64200, Pakistan
Zuhair Hasnain
Department of Agronomy, Pir Mehr Ali Shah Arid Agriculture University, Rawalpindi 46000, Pakistan
Kashf Mehmood
Department of Biological Sciences, Superior University, Lahore 54000, Pakistan
Muhammad Bilal Chattha
Department of Agronomy, University of the Punjab, Lahore 54000, Pakistan
Muhammad Ijaz
College of Agriculture, Bahauddin Zakrya University, Bahadur Sub Campus, Layyah 31200, Pakistan
Abdul Sattar
College of Agriculture, Bahauddin Zakrya University, Bahadur Sub Campus, Layyah 31200, Pakistan
Danish Ibrar
Plant Genetic Resources Institute, National Agricultural Research Centre, Islamabad 45500, Pakistan
Saqib Bashir
Department of Soil and Environmental Science, Ghazi University, Dera Ghazi Khan 32200, Pakistan
Muhammad Musawir Khan
Center for Advanced Studies of Vaccinology and Biotechnology, University of Balochistan, Balochistan 12120, Pakistan
Safia Gul
Department of Botany, Sardar Bahadur Khan Women’s University, Quetta 1800, Pakistan
Sohail Irshad
Department of Agronomy, MNS-University of Agriculture, Multan 64200, Pakistan
Shah Fahad
Department of Agronomy, Abdul Wali Khan University, Mardan 23200, Pakistan
Niaz Ahmed
Department of Soil Science, Faculty of Agricultural Sciences and Technology, Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan 64200, Pakistan
Habibullah
College of Agriculture, Bahauddin Zakrya University, Bahadur Sub Campus, Layyah 31200, Pakistan
Afroz Rais
Department of Botany, Sardar Bahadur Khan Women’s University, Quetta 1800, Pakistan
Shahbaz Khan
Plant Genetic Resources Institute, National Agricultural Research Centre, Islamabad 45500, Pakistan
It is needful to have alternative nutritious cereal crops to feed the ever increasing population and meet food security in the long run. Triticale (Triticosecale wittmack) is used for both livestock feed and human consumption as it contains higher protein and lysine contents than other cereals. Synthetic fertilizers applied in combination with organic amendments can play a pivotal role in increasing crop yields. Field experiments were designed to explore the impact of chemical fertilizers (NPK), press mud and animal manure on growth and yield of triticale genotypes cultivated under different irrigation regimes. Experiments were laid out by using randomized complete block design (RCBD) with split-split plot arrangements having three replicates and comprised of different treatments such as chemical fertilizers (T1 = control, T2 = NPK, T3 = press mud and T4 = animal manure), genotypes (G1 and G2), and irrigation regimes (I1 = full irrigation, I2 = irrigation was skipped at heading stage, and I3 = irrigation was skipped at heading and grain filling stages). Statistical analyses of collected data depicted the significant effect of chemical fertilizers, organic amendments, genotypes and irrigation regimes on various yield and yield related attributes of triticale. The highest increment in various observed attributes like plant height, leaves per plant, spike length, spikelets per spike, grains per spike, leaf area, 1000-grain weight, biological yield and grain yield was recorded in I1, followed by I2 and I3; in case of varieties, G1 performed better than G2 while T3 had maximum values in the aforementioned parameters as compared to other treatments. The application of NPK in combination with press mud and animal manure improved the growth and yield of triticale genotypes cultivated under different irrigation regimes. Thus, NPK along with organic amendments and irrigation practices can successfully be used to improve the growth and yield of triticale.
