Growth, Yield and Biochemical Responses in Barley to DAP and Chitosan Application under Water Stress

Abstract

The present investigation was aimed to enhance quality and productivity of barley by fertilizer and chitosan application. Field experiments were conducted in northern region of Jordan, under rain fed conditions in the main growing seasons of 2014/2015 and 2015/2016. The experiment was conducted in well-designed split-plot having three replications and two fertilizer levels (0 and 100 kg/ ha DAP (Diammonium phosphate 46% P2O5). Chitosan in the three different concentrations (0, 5, and 10 g/L) were randomly applied to all fertilizer plot as subplot treatments. The results revealed the highest seed dry weight (5.8 g per plant) in the plants treated with100 kg ha-1 of DAP while the lowest (5.2 g per plant) was recorded in the control which exhibited an increase of about 10 %. However, other parameters namely the number of grains, number of spikes, number of grains were also found to be influenced by the chitosan treatment. Significant variation (P<0.01) were also high between the lines in the presence and absence of chitosan application. The highest number of grain yield, number of spikes, and grains/spike were found by the foliar treatment of 10g/L chitosan to barley plants at the tillering stage. Similarly, grain quality, particularly with respect to protein and starch, was found to be enhanced significantly over control. The highest protein (12.6 %) and starch (62.3 %) were obtained with 100 kg/ha DAP fertilizer level mixed with 10g/L chitosan. Hence, based on results, it can be concluded that the fertilizer level 100 kg/ha DAP combined with 10g/L chitosan is economically best and recommendable for improving quality and productivity of barley in northern region of Jordan.

Keywords

• jordan
• fertilizer
• chitosan
• barley
• dap