Growth and yield response of four bread wheat cultivars, (Triticum aestivum L.), to spraying with NPK nano fertilizer

Abstract

Abstract A field experiment was carried out during the agricultural season 2021-2022 in two locations within the administrative borders of Nineveh Governorate, the first location in the Gleokhan area within the borders of Mosul Center and the second location within the administrative borders of Namrod district, which is 45 km from the center of Mosul district, in order to know the effect of the balanced NPK 20:20:20 compound fertilizer nano the growth and yield of four varieties of bread wheat. The global experiment was carried out, which consisted of two factors, a randomized complete block design, and three replications. The first factor was fertilizer levels with four levels (1, 2, and 3 gm.L-1) added in two phases. The first is in the tillers stage (Z 2-1) and the second stage is at the beginning of the boating stage (Z 4-0) on the Zadoks scale, in addition to the comparison treatment, which was the traditional farmer’s method of fertilization (adding urea and dab fertilizer according to the times and quantities recommended by the Ministry Iraqi Agriculture), the second factor, four varieties of local bread wheat (Bhoth 22, Abu Ghraib, Rashid and Jihan), the following characteristics were studied: plant height, number of tillers, flag leaf area, total chlorophyll content of flag leaf, number of days up to 50% flowering, number of spikes, spike length, number of grains per spike, grain yield, weight of 1000 grains. The most important results of the study were as follows: The comparison treatment (the traditional farmer's method) excelled in the total chlorophyll content of the Gleokhan site and in the number of spikes and weight of 1000 grains in the Namrod site, with values of (28.41 Spad, 267.75 spikes.m-2, and 44.91 g), respectively. The 1 g spray treatment excelled in the characteristics of the number of tillers, number of spikes, length of spike, grain yield, and weight of 1000 grains at the Gleokhan site, and in the two characteristics of leaf area and spike length at the Namrod site, with averages of (178.17 tiller.m-2, 100.08 spikes.m-2, 8.58 cm , 128.83 g.m-2, 35.20 g, 34.46 cm2 and 10.85 cm) in the aforementioned order. The 3 g spray treatment was superior in the characteristics of plant height for both sites, the number of days up to 50% flowering, and grain yield of the Namrod site, with rates of (54.42 cm, 80.77 cm, 135.83 days, and 332.17 g.m-2), respectively. No significant differences were recorded between the levels of fertilizer in terms of flag leaf area and number of days up to 50% flowering for Gleokhan site and number of grains per spike for both sites. The cultivar Bhoth 22 excelled in terms of total chlorophyll content and the weight of 1000 grains at the Gleokhan site, and for the characteristics of the number of tillers, number of days up to 50% flowering, number of spikes, and grain yield of the Namrod site, as averages were recorded (27.29 Spad, 34.23 g, 302.75 tiller.m-2, 134.92 days, 290.17 spike.m-2 and 405.42 g m-2) respectively. The Abu Ghraib cultivar achieved superiority in the number of grains per spike at Al-Namrod site, with an average of (46.43 grains.spike-1). The cultivar Rashid excelled in the characteristics of the number of tillers, number of spikes, and spike length at the Gleokhan site, and for the two characteristics of the flag leaf area and spike length at the Namrod site, where the rates were recorded (169.08 tiller.m-2, 104.58 spike.m-2, 8.56 cm, 34.55 cm2 and 12.98 cm), respectively. The cultivar Jihan achieved superiority in the two characteristics of the number of days up to 50% flowering and grain yield at Gleokhan site, with values of (131 days and 108.08 g.m-2), respectively. No significant differences were recorded between the cultivars included in the study in the characteristics of plant height, flag leaf area, number of grains per spike for Gleokhan site, and for the two characteristics of total chlorophyll content and weight of 1000 grains for Namrod site. The interaction of 1 g spray treatment with Jihan cultivar recorded the highest average grain yield at Gleokhan site, and the 3 g spray treatment with Bhoth 22 cultivar had the highest average grain yield at Namrod site with values of (301 and 487.67 g.m-2), respectively.

Keywords

• compound fertilizer
• NPK
• nano
• varieties
• bread wheat