Abstract
The objective of the study was to evaluate the efficiency of biofertilizers in improving wheat yield, yield components, and nutrients balance in soil. Local and imported biofertilizers were applied in a field experiment at Erbil, Iraq for the season 2016-2017. The experimental design was Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with four replicates. The experiment consisted of five treatments: T1 = Natrusoil (Commercial Biofertilizer) only, T2 = Natrusoil + 25% Chemical Fertilizers (CF), T3 = Local Biofertilizer B1 + 25%CF, T4 = Local Biofertilizers B2 + 25%CF, and T5 = CF as a Control (Recommended: Urea = 260 kg/ha, DAP = 180 kg/ha). Management practices in soil preparation and crop management followed the common and general procedures. Most test biofertilizers significantly increased yield of wheat grain or yield components. Maximum significant grain yield was obtained from biofertilizers treatments Natrusoil+25%CF (4.659) and B1+25%CF (4.691) as compared with the Control (3.987 kg ha-1). The increase in yield was in the range 17-18%. The application of biofertilizer resulted in a positive effect on nutrients balance in the soil at the end of season regardless of type of biofertilizrs as indicated by the increase in levels of NH4, NO3, P, and K. Among the benefits of using bioferilizers is the reduction in cost. The reduction was 47% in using the imported Natrusoil + 25%CF increased to 72% when using the Natrusoil alone.
Highlights
Wheat is considered as one of the most important cereals crop. It has a special importance in Iraq because the local production is not sufficient to supply the annual demand the country used to import wheat during the last sixty years according to almost all reports of central statistical belong to ministry of planning during the last decades
Natrusoil+25%Chemical Fertilizers (CF) and B1+25%CF increased yield by 1718% over the control
Weight of 1000 kernel for Natrusoil+25%CF, B1+25%CF, and B2+25%CF increased by 18-25% over the control
Summary
Wheat is considered as one of the most important cereals crop. It has a special importance in Iraq because the local production is not sufficient to supply the annual demand the country used to import wheat during the last sixty years according to almost all reports of central statistical belong to ministry of planning during the last decades. Agriculture practices in Iraq are heavily dependent on agrochemicals e.g, mineral fertilizers and pesticides. Irrational use of such agrochemicals would lead to the frequent soil pollution [4,5]. The use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides for promoting production level and protecting plants disturb ecological balance of the soil (Sharma 2002) [2]. Much attention has focused on biofertilizers to increase agricultural production and minimize pollution of environment [8,9]
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