TITLE:
Impact of Different Zinc Application Methods on Yield and Yield Components of Various Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) Cultivars
AUTHORS:
Usman Afzal, Muhammad Shahid Ibni Zamir, Shan Mohi Ud Din, Aqib Bilal, Muhammad Salahuddin, Shahid Iqbal Khan
KEYWORDS:
Wheat, Zinc, Application Methods, Zinc Contents
JOURNAL NAME:
American Journal of Plant Sciences,
Vol.8 No.13,
December
29,
2017
ABSTRACT: To evaluate the impact of different zinc application
methods on yield and yield components of various wheat cultivars, a field
experiment was carried out at Student’s Farm, Department of Agronomy,
University of Agriculture Faisalabad, during winter 2014-2015. The experiment
was laid out in RCBD (Randomized Complete Block Design) with factorial
arrangement. In this experiment, all the treatments were replicated three
times, using the net plot size of 1.8 m × 5.0 m. The experiment comprised of
two factors. Factor A consists of two varieties: Faisalabad-2008 and
Punjab-2011. While, Factor B consists of different methods of zinc application,
control, zinc application in soil before planting 23 kg·ha-1,
zinc foliar application, 4% ZnSO4 solution at two stages (tillering
and stem elongation stage). The data regarding different parameters were
collected and analyzed from the crop using standard procedures. Regarding the
impact of zinc application method maximum plant height at maturity (103.6 cm),
total number of tillers (564.67 m-2), spike length (10.83 cm),
number of spikelets spike-1 (19.50), number of grains spike-1 (50.36), 1000-grain weight (34.16 g), biological yield (11.93 t·ha-1),
grain yield (6.00 t·ha-1) and harvest index (39.25%) were
recorded in treatment where zinc was applied both in the soil before planting
and by foliar application on later growth stages. Similarly, grain zinc
contents (33.11 mg·kg-1), grain protein contents (10.1%) and grain
carbohydrate contents (64.23%) were also observed in the treatment where zinc
was applied both in the soil before planting and by foliar application on later
growth stages, which is better than all other treatments. In case of wheat
varieties, Faisalabad-2008 performed better than Punjab-2011, with maximum
method maximum total number of tillers (460.67
m-2), spike length (9.70 cm), number of grains spike-1 (48.80), 1000-grain weight (33.81 g), biological yield (10.32 t·ha-1),
grain yield (5.0 t·ha-1) and harvest index (33.93%). It
is concluded that sowing of wheat cultivar Faisalabad-2008 + application of
zinc in soil before planting with foliar application at later stages (tillering
and stem elongation stage) of wheat could give better results in terms of
yield.