Effect of supplementary nutrition with Fe, Zn chelates and urea on wheat quality and quantity

Abstract

Intensive and multiple cropping, cultivation of crop varieties with heavy nutrient requirement and unbalanced use of chemical fertilizers, especially nitrogen and phosphorus fertilizers reduced seed quality and caused micronutrient deficiency in crops. Balanced fertilization will increase yield and quality of crops. A field experiment was conducted on clay-loam soil at Parsabad Moghan region, Iran during 2009 to 2010 to investigate the effect of foliar application of zinc, iron and urea on wheat yield and quality at filling stage. The experimental design was a randomized complete block design with three replicates. The SAS software package was used to analyze all the data and means were separated by the least significant difference (LSD) test at P < 0.01. In this study, parameters such as wheat grain yield, 1000 kernel weight, ear length, plant height, seed Zn, Fe, Cu and Mn concentrations were evaluated. Results show that foliar application of Zn and Fe increased seed yield and its quality when compared with the control. Foliar feeding with urea increased seed yield and yield component, but Fe, Zn and Cu concentration reduced them, as compared to other foliar feeding methods.

Key words: Wheat, foliar feeding, yield, Zn, Fe, urea.