Physiological quality of white oat seeds produced with Nitrogen, Iron and Zinc biofortification

Abstract

The main function of the seed is the perpetuation of the species, which means it is able to disperse to new environments and give rise to new plants. The use of high quality seeds is one of the determining factors for the establishment of the crop and is directly related to maximum germination potential and vigor, resulting in uniformity of the plant stand. Therefore, the objective was to evaluate the physiological quality of white oat seeds produced under different nitrogen management and foliar biofortification with iron and zinc. In the second week of June 2021, white oat cultivar URS Corona was sown in plots of 5 lines, 5 m long each and spacing between lines of 0.20 m, totaling an experimental unit of 5 m². The treatments consisted of different doses of biofortification with Iron and Zinc applied foliarly to the plant when the inflorescence was exposed, at the beginning of grain filling. For biofortification, the source of iron used was the compound of FeSO4 7H2O and zinc, ZnSO4 5H2O was used, each nutrient was applied separately and the combination of iron + zinc at doses of 0, 1000, 2000 and 4000 g ha-1, and to aplication of nitrogen use ureia 45%. Applications were carried out with a knapsack sprayer, in a spray volume of 500 liters ha-1. The experiment was harvested 130 days after emergence, in the full maturation phase, at phenological stage 90, according to the ZADOKS scale. The tests carried out to evaluate the physiological quality of the seeds were: first germination count, germination, accelerated aging, root length, shoot length, total length, seedling dry mass and electrical conductivity. The data were subjected to analysis of variance (ANOVA) at a 5% probability of error. For the variables that showed a significant effect, an average test was carried out for qualitative sources of variation and polynomial regression for quantitative sources of variation with a 5% probability of error, carried out with the aid of the GENES software. From the evaluations, it was concluded that the use of foliar biofortification with iron and zinc alone or in combination, aplication with nitrogen influenced the physiological quality of white oat seeds.