Winter wheat growth under two tillage systems for fertilizer application

Abstract

Winter wheat ( Triticum aestivum L. em Thell. ‘Osage’) was grown under two tillage systems to determine the effect of fertilizer placement on water relations, growth, and yield. In one tillage treatment, fertilizer (urea ammonium phosphate, 28-28-0, 200 kg/ha) was placed in strips (bands) with the seed at planting and, in the other treatment, fertilizer was broadcasted before planting and superificially worked in. The soil was a Kirkland clay loam (Udertic Paleustoll). Leaf osmotic potential, leaf water potential, stomatal resistance, leaf area, and height were measured during the experiment. At harvest (259 days after planting), grain yield was determined. Plants under the two tillage systems had similar water potentials, osmotic potentials, and stomatal resistances 20 days after planting, when the first measurements began, until the end of the experiment. Even though plants grown with the broadcasted fertilizer were tallest and had the largest leaf area, grain yields of plants grown with the stripped and broadcasted fertilizer were the same on an areal basis. The results showed that wheat seed could be placed with fertilizer at planting with no effect on the water relations of the plants and with no decrease in yield.