Productivity of wheat (Triticum aestivum) as influenced by zinc fertilization under semi-arid conditions of Kandahar, Afghanistan

NAJIBULLAH HEMMAT; KHALILULLAH KHALEEQ; NASIR AHMAD NASRAT; S.L. MEENA; Y.S. SHIVAY; DINESH KUMAR; CINI VARGHESE

doi:10.59797/ija.v68i2.363

Authors

NAJIBULLAH HEMMAT Afghanistan National Agricultural Science and Technology University, Kandahar, Afghanistan 3801
KHALILULLAH KHALEEQ Afghanistan National Agricultural Science and Technology University, Kandahar, Afghanistan 3801
NASIR AHMAD NASRAT Afghanistan National Agricultural Science and Technology University, Kandahar, Afghanistan 3801
S.L. MEENA ICAR-Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi 110 012
Y.S. SHIVAY ICAR-Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi 110 012
DINESH KUMAR ICAR-Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi 110 012
CINI VARGHESE ICAR-Indian Agricultural Statistics Research Institute, New Delhi 110 012

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.59797/ija.v68i2.363

Keywords:

Foliar spray, Wheat, Zinc fertilization, ZnSO4, ZnO

Abstract

A field experiment was conducted during winter (rabi) season of 2019–20, at research farm of the Afghanistan National Agricultural Sciences and Technology University (ANASTU), Kandahar, Afghanistan, in randomized complete-block design to find out the effect of zinc on growth, yield and yield-attributing characters of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.). Results revealed that, plant height (100.3 cm), number of tillers/m² [346 at 60 days after sowing (DAS) and 576 at 90 DAS], leaf-area index (1.98), dry-matter production (291 g/m² ), number of spikes/m² (319), spikelets/spike (20.7), grains/spike (51.1) and 1,000-grain weight (52.2 g) obtained with the application of 2.5 kg Zn/ha as basal + 2 foliar sprays @ 0.5% through ZnSO₄ , were significantly higher over rest of the treatments. Grain yield (4.09 tonnes/ha), straw yield (6.39 tonne/ha), biological yields (10.2 tonne/ha) and harvest index (40%) too were recorded higher under the application of 2.5 kg Zn/ha as basal + 2 foliar sprays @ 0.5% through ZnSO₄. Gross returns (147.23 × 10³ `/ha), net returns (103.39 × 103 `/ha) and benefit: cost ratios (3.19) were also higher with the application of 2.5 kg Zn/ha as basal + 2 foliar sprays @ 0.5% through ZnSO₄ . Overall, the soil application of 2.5 kg Zn/ha as basal through ZnSO₄ + 2 foliar sprays of ZnSO₄ @ 0.5% was best in terms of growth, yield and profitability of wheat.

References

Esfandiari, E., Abdoli, M., Mousavi, S.B. and Sadeghzadeh, B. 2016. Impact of foliar zinc application on agronomic traits and grain quality parameters of wheat grown in zinc deficient soil. Indian Journal of Plant Physiology 21(3): 263–270.

FAO. 2018. International Wheat Production Statistics. www.fao.org/faostat/en/#data/QC (Accessed 2018/6/ 25).

Firdous, S., Agarwal, B.K. and Chhabra, V. 2018. Zinc-fertilization effects on wheat yield and yield components. Journal of Pharmacognosy and Phytochemistry 7(2): 3,497–3,499.

Ghasal, P.C., Shivay, Y.S., Pooniya, V., Choudhary, M. and Verma, R.K. 2017. Response of wheat genotypes to zinc fertilization for improving productivity and quality. Archives of Agronomy and Soil Science 63(11): 1,597–1,612.

Kumar, M., Singh, R.P., Yadav, P.K., Singh, V., Patel, S.K., Chandel, S.K.S. and Singh, S.N. 2020. Agronomic fortification in wheat (Tritium aestivum L.) with zinc. Journal of Pharmacognosy and Phytochemistry 9(5): 157–160.

Rehman, A., Farooq, M., Naveed, M., Nawaz, A. and Shahzad, B. 2018. Seed priming of Zn with endophytic bacteria improves the productivity and grain biofortification of bread wheat. European Journal of Agronomy 94: 98–107.

Shahane, A.A., Shivay, Y.S., Kumar, D. and Prasanna, R. 2017. Quantifying the contribution of microbial inoculation and zinc fertilization to growth, yield and economics of wheat (Triticum aestivum) in different methods of cultivation. Indian Journal of Agricultural Sciences 87(8): 1,066–1,072.

Shivay, Y.S., Kumar, D. and Prasad, R. 2008. Effect of zinc-enriched urea on productivity, zinc uptake and efficiency of an aromatic rice–wheat cropping system. Nutrient Cycling in Agroecosystems 81(3): 229–243.

Zain, M., Khan, I., Qadri, R.W.K., Ashraf, U., Hussain, S., Minhas, S. and Bashir, M. 2015. Foliar application of micronutrients enhances wheat growth, yield and related attributes. American Journal of Plant Sciences 6(07): 864.

Zulfiqar, U., Hussain, S., Ishfaq, M., Matloob, A., Ali, N., Ahmad, M. and Ahmad, P. 2020. Zinc-induced effects on productivity, zinc use efficiency, and grain bio-fortification of bread wheat under different tillage permutations. Agronomy 10(10): 1,566.