Effect of Zinc Chelate Foliar Application on Yield and Yield Components of Four Wheat Cultivars

Abstract

Application of microelements is one of the ways to increase quantative and qualitative characters of wheat. To evaluate the effect of zinc foliar application on yield and yield components of four wheat cultivars a factorial experiment with two factors was conducted in randomized complete blocks design with three replications in 2011-2012 year. The first factor consisted of four wheat cultivars (Falat, Bahar, Pishtaz and Tous) and the second factor composed of three levels of zinc chelate foliar applications (control, at shooting stage and at shooting + flowering stages). Zinc concentration in each application was decided to be 4 kilogram per hectare. Results showed that yield and yield components of cultivars were significantly different with each others. The highest and lowest yields were belonged to Bahar and Tous respectively. The highest yield of Bahar, as compared to the other cultivars, was due to its higher biological yield. Zinc foliar applications at shooting and shooting + flowering stages also increased biological and seed yields. Seed yield increase mainly affected by higher 1000 seed weight. In general, it seems that zinc application, due to its role in the physiology of wheat, a sensitive plant to zinc deficiency, may increase its seed yield.

Keywords

• Shooting stage
• Flowering stage
• Foliar application
• Zinc chelate