Wheat grain Cd concentration and uptake as affected by timing of fertilizer N application

Abstract

Li, X., Ziadi, N., Belanger, G., Yuan, W., Liang, S., Xu, H. and Cai, Z. 2013. Wheat grain Cd concentration and uptake as affected by timing of fertilizer N application. Can. J. Soil Sci. 93: 219-222. The effect of a single N application (120 kg ha-1) at seeding on wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) grain Cd concentration and uptake was compared with an equally split N application (seeding and the stem elongation stage) in a field experiment at 12 site-years. Averaged across all site-years, the single N application tended to reduce wheat grain Cd concentration (58 vs. 68 µg kg-1 DM) and uptake (151 vs. 191 mg ha-1) compared with the split application. The Cd concentrations, however, never exceeded the maximum acceptable level for Cd in wheat grain. A single N application at seeding might reduce the risk of high grain Cd concentration in spring wheat.