Effect of foliar supplementation of water soluble fertilizer on growth, yield and economics of wheat crop (Triticum aestivum L.)

Abstract

A field experiment was conducted during rabi season of 2015-16 at Agronomy Research Farm of Chaudhary Charan Singh Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar, Haryana, to evaluate the effects of foliar application of water soluble fertilizers on growth, yield attributes and yield of wheat. The soil of the experimental plot was sandy loam in texture, low in available nitrogen (131.3 kg ha-1), medium in available phosphorus (17.2 kg ha-1), and high in available potassium (335.4 kg ha-1). The soil was alkaline in reaction (pH 7.8). The experiment was laid out in randomized block design with 17 treatments having three replications. The treatments comprising two fertilizers level i.e., Recommended dose of fertilizer (RDF) (150 kg N + 60 kg P2O5 + 60 kg K2O ha-1) and 75% of RDF and supplemented with foliar application of water soluble fertilizers viz. Urea phosphate (17:44) @ 1.5%, NPK (18:18:18) @ 1.5%, ZnSO4 @ 0.5% and Urea 2% at different stages. One treatment was control where no fertilizer applied. Growth parameters viz, plant height, dry matter accumulation, crop growth rate and leaf area index were increased with T9 i.e., RDF along with foliar application of water soluble fertilizers NPK (18:18:18) @ 1.5% at 40 DAS followed by Urea phosphate (17:44) @ 1.5% at 65 DAS. Among treatments, application of RDF along with foliar application of water soluble fertilizers NPK (18:18:18) @ 1.5% at 40 DAS followed by Urea phosphate (17:44) @ 1.5% at 65 DAS exhibited the highest values of yield attributes, viz. effective tillers/ meter row length (mrl), number of spikeletes/spike, number of grains/spike and 1000-grains weight which led to the highest grain yield (6220 kg ha-1) However, alternate application of NPK (18:18:18) @ 1.5% and Urea phosphate (17:44) @ 1.5% or vice versa produced statistically similar grain yield of wheat at the same level of fertilizer application. RDF or 75% RDF along with foliar application of NPK (18:18:18) @ 1.5% was slightly superior as compared to RDF or 75% RDF along with foliar application of Urea phosphate (17:44) @ 1.5% irrespective of time of application.