Response Of Wheat (triticum Aestivum L.) Varieties To Sowing Method And Fertilizer Treatments

ABSTRACTField experiments were conducted in 2014/2015 and 2015/2016 dry seasons at theResearch Farm of the Institute for Agricultural Research, Samaru and Kadawa to studythe response wheat varieties to sowing method and fertilizer treatment. The treatmentsconsisted of three varieties (LACRIWHIT-1, LACRIWHIT-4 and LACRIWHIT-5), twosowing methods (broadcasting and drilling) and four fertilizer (zero fertilizer control,NPK at 120 kg N, 60 kg P2O5 and 60 kg K2O ha-1, Farmyard Manure at 10 t ha-1 andcombination of NPK (60kg N, 30 kg P2O5 and 30 kg K2O ha-1) and FYM (5 t ha-1)). Thetreatments were laid out in a Randomized Complete Block Design and replicated threetimes. Growth attributes such as plant height, number of tillers, number of leaves andcrop dry matter varied significantly among the varieties at different sampling periodsand were generally found to be higher in LACRIWHIT-5 than LACRIWHIT-1 and 4.The variety LACRIWHIT-5 was superior to LACRIWHIT-1 and 4 in most yieldattributes such as number of spike m-2, spike length, weight of grain spike-1, 1000-grainweight and total biomass at harvest. However, LACRIWHIT-1 and 4 headed, floweredand matured earlier. LACRIWHIT-1 had higher grain protein (12.28 and 12.59 %) andgluten content (9.73 and 9.66 %). Growth parameters such as stand count, number oftillers, number of leaves, leaf area, crop dry matter, CGR, RGR, NAR, days to maturityand effective tillers were significantly affected by sowing method with drill sowinggiving higher values in most cases than broadcast. Drill sowing also significantlyincreased yield components such as number of spike m-2, number of grains per spike,and grain weight as well as grain yield and grain moisture content. Fertilizer applicationsignificantly increased growth parameters such as plant height, number of tillers,number of leaves and crop dry matter, crop growth rate and hastened days to 50%heading, flowering and maturity. High stand count, taller plants and more tillers wereobtained resulting from application of NPK alone or in combination with FYM thancontrol treatment. Fertilizer application increased tiller production which directlyinfluence leaf number and LAI of the crop.Days to 50 % heading, flowering andmaturity was relatively earlier in the fertilized plots compared to the unfertilized ones.Yield components such as spike length, spike m-2, 1000-grain weight, grain per spikeand higher biomass yield of wheat were influenced by fertilizer application. From thestudy, highest yield was obtained with the application of NPK alone or in combinationwith FYM followed by FYM alone and the least was in the unfertilized control. Positiveand significant correlation was observed between grain yield and most growth and yieldcomponents of wheat. These include plant height, number of tillers m-2, LAI, crop drymatter, CGR, spike m-2, spike length, spikelets spike-1, number of grains spike-1, weightof grains spike-1, 1000 grain weight, total biomass and harvest index. Also, LAIsignificantly and positively correlated to CGR and RGR. The relationships betweengrain yield and days to 50% flowering, heading and maturity was negative. Similarly,correlation between number of grains spike-1 and 1000 grain weight was negative. In thepath coefficient analysis, total biomass production had both the greatest direct effect andcontributed more to grain yield followed by harvest index. The highest positive indirectcontribution was from crop dry matter via weight of grain spike-1 as well as number oftillers m-2 via total biomass at Samaru and from weight of grain spike-1 via total biomassat Kadawa. The low residual values obtained in study suggest that the major characterscontributing to the grain yield of wheat were measured. It was realized that only 1.2%,38.70% and 34.37% at Samaru while at Kadawa 11.54%, 6.0% and 7.35% of thevariability remain unaccounted in 2014/2015, 2015/2016 and their combined meanrespectively. The partial economic analysis revealed that, at both locations application of combined NPK and FYM to drilled LACRIWHIT-5 resulted in the highest grossmargin and profit per naira (₦) invested. The lowest gross margin came from broadcastLACRIWHIT-1 sown unfertilized followed by LACRIWHIT-5 under same treatment.Based on the findings of this study, it could be concluded that LACRIWHIT-5 wassuperior to LACRIWHIT-4 and LACRIWHIT-1 in most growth, yield attributes andyield while LACRIWHIT-1 produced more grain protein and gluten content thanLACRIWHIT-4 and 5. Drill sowing was better than broadcast in terms of most growth,yield attributes and yield. Combined application of NPK (60kg N, 30 kg P2O5 and 30 kgK2O ha-1) and FYM (5 t ha-1) or full dose of NPK (NPK at 120kg N, 60 kg P2O5 and 60kg K2O ha-1,) gave the highest grain yield. Therefore, drill sowing of varietyLACRIWHIT-5 with application of either combined NPK (60kg N, 30 kg P2O5 and 30kg K2O ha-1) and FYM (5 t ha-1) or full rate of NPK (NPK at 120kg N, 60 kg P2O5 and60 kg K2O ha-1,) is suggested but economically, grain yield was best at the combinationof NPK and FYM to drill sown LACRIWHIT-5.

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