EFFECT OF FOLIAR APPLIED UREA ON GROWTH AND YIELD OF WHEAT (TRITICUM AESTIVUM L.)

Abstract

Owing to climate change and continuous crop cultivation, soils are deteriorating with essential nutrients, and consequently, crop yield decreases day by day. Thus, it is necessary to ensure the availability of nitrogen according to the requirement of the crop through the foliar application of urea; because it is proven more efficient when compared with soil-applied method, especially in wheat crop. Therefore, the study was designed to examine the effect of urea in foliar application under different concentrations on various growth stages of wheat under field conditions during 2020-2021. The wheat variety Benazir-2013 was selected because it is high-yielding, rust-resistant, and can be cultivated in all ecological zones of Sindh. Due to these prominent characteristics, nowadays, it is a better choice for growers. For the foliar application of urea, the concentrations were formulated as T1: Control, T2: Recommended dose of fertilizer RDF + 1% Urea on tillering stage, T3: RDF + 1% Urea at stem elongation, T4: RDF +1.5% Urea at tillering stage, T5: RDF + 1.5% Urea at stem elongation, T6: RDF + 2% Urea at tillering stage and T7: RDF + 2% Urea at stem elongation. Results of the study showed that maximum Plant height (94.7 cm), number of tillers (460.3 m-2), Spike length (16.7 cm), number of grains spike-1 (65.8), Seed index (65.8 g), Biological yield (11.6 t ha-1) and Grain yield (5.0 t ha-1) was perceived by (T6: RDF + 2% Urea at tillering stage) followed by (T7: RDF + 2% Urea at stem elongation) with Plant height (90.4 cm), number of tillers (430.0 m-2), Spike length (14.8 cm), Grains spike-1 (58.3), Seed index (53.5 g), Biological yield (11.1 t ha-1) and Grain yield (4.8 kg ha-1). Meanwhile, the lowest values were recorded for all yield traits under T1: Control. However, T2, T3, T4, and T5 were also recorded significantly compared to the (T1) control. Hence, it is suggested that RDF + 2% urea at the tillering stage should be applied in wheat variety Benazir-2013 to achieve the maximum yield.