Comparative Evaluation Of Zinc Fertilization Methods On Growth Traits And Yield Of Wheat Triticum Aestivum

Abstract

The Zinc nutrient deficiency is widely experienced in field crops specially cereals. The crops responds well to the soil& foliar applied inc.  A field research experiment was carried out to investigate the efficacy of Zn fertilizer on growth traits and yield of by soil & foliar application. The objective was to evaluate the economical and appropriate dose and application method to determine influence of Zn on wheat. The treatments were designed in RCBD with three replicates. The Zn deficient soil (0.73 mg/kg) used for this research was textured silty loam, 8.5 pH, and poor in organic matter (0.58%). The ZnSO4 was used as source of fertilizer. There were four treatments T1=Control, T2=Soil applied with 10 kg Zn/ha, T3=Foliar application of 0.5% solution of Zn/ha, T4= T2 + T3 during heading stage/ha and irrigation time. The results revealed that soil and foliar Zn application had significant influence on growth traits and yield of wheat. The height of plants increased from 63.09 to 75.49 cm, tillers increased from 7.71 to 11.86, grains counts from 320 to 456.94, seed index from 49.58 to 52.28, and biological yields from 9085 to 10191 kgha-1. It was concluded that Zn application in T4 foliar application exhibited significant results. It is suggested that Zn application (10 kg of Zn/ha) at time of first irrigation and 0.5% foliar at heading stage can thoroughly be practiced in wheat crop for optimum production.

Keywords:  Zinc Fertilizer, ApplicationMethods, Wheat, Foliar, Climate Changes