Quality and yield of wheat crop as affected by different zinc application methods and levels

Abstract

A field trail was performed at new developmental farm, The University of Agriculture Peshawar during winter 2012 to assess quality and yield of wheat crop as affected by different zinc application methods i.e foliar, soil and priming with Zn. In priming wheat (serin-2010) seeds were soaked in 1 and 5 % Zn solution for 16 hours prepared from ZnSO₄. In case of foliar application 2.5 and 5 kg ha^-1of ZnSO_4.7H₂O were used whereas in case of soil application, 5 and 10 kg ha^-1 of Zn as ZnSO_4.7H₂O was surface applied before sowing wheat crop. The NP and K were also used as a basal dose @ of 120:90:60 kg ha^-1respectively. The result showed that biological yield, grain yield, soil extractable Zn, uptake of phosphorous and Zn were significantly enhanced when Zn was applied as foliar spray @ of 2.5kg ha^-1 followed by 5kg ha^-1as compared to soil application and control treatments. Similarly, foliar application of Zn @ of 2.5 kg ha^-1resulted in maximum, biological yield (7516.7 kg ha^-1), grain yield (4490 kg ha^-1), soil extractable Zn (1.003 mg kg^-1), phosphorous in leaf tissue (451.36 mg kg^-1) and Zn in leaf tissue ( T6= 46.63 mg kg^-1) followed by Zn application @ of 5 kg ha^-1.Soil application and control treatments resulted minimum biological yield, grain yield, soil extractable Zn, uptake of phosphorous and Zn. From these results it was concluded that quality and yield of wheat crop were significantly enhanced when zinc was applied as a foliar spray @ of 2.5 kg ha^-1 as compared to other methods. Foliar spray at @ of 2.5 kg ha^-1 is recommended in zinc deficient soils to get better quality and yield of wheat crop.

Keywords: Wheat; ZnSO₄.7H₂O; Biological yield; Grain yield

http://dx.doi.org/10.19045/bspab.2017.60086