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Available Water and Nitrogen Effects on Yield Components and Grain Nitrogen of Zero‐Till Spring Wheat
Author(s) -
Campbell C. A.,
Selles F,
Zentner R. P.,
McConkey B. G.
Publication year - 1993
Publication title -
agronomy journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.752
H-Index - 131
eISSN - 1435-0645
pISSN - 0002-1962
DOI - 10.2134/agronj1993.00021962008500010022x
Subject(s) - straw , agronomy , nitrogen , tillage , yield (engineering) , conventional tillage , fertilizer , no till farming , urea , cropping , arid , grain yield , environmental science , soil fertility , mathematics , soil water , chemistry , biology , agriculture , soil science , ecology , materials science , organic chemistry , metallurgy
Straw yield is important in soil conservation and nutrient cycling. Grain N concentration is of economic importance, and variations in yield components can be used to improve our understanding of grain yield response to environmental stimuli. Therefore, quantifying these responses in relation to soil water and N fertility is of considerable importance. A 9‐yr study was conducted in southwestern Saskatchewan on a medium textured Aridic Haploboroll using zero‐tillage management. We examined the influence of snow trapping and fertilizer management (rate, placement, and time of N application) on hard red spring wheat ( Triticum aestivum L.) grown annually. Multiple regression was used with backward elimination to relate straw yield, heads per plant, kernel weight, and grain N concentration to available water use (WU), fall soil NO 3 −N in 0‐0.6 m depth (SN), rate of urea fertilizer N (FN), years of consecutive cropping (Yr) and several interactions among these variables. Significant (P < 0.0001) meaningful relationships were obtained betwen straw yield ( R 2 = 0.78, P = 0.001), kernel wt ( R 2 = 0.81, P = 0.001), heads/plant ( R 2 = 0.36; P = 0.001) and grain N concentration ( R 2 = 0.56, P = 0.001) and the independent variables. In this semi‐arid region, WU was by far the most important factor influencing all characteristics. The effect of SN was often more important than that of FN. Further, the advantage of SN over FN increased with years of cropping, possibly reflecting a gradual increase in the N supplying power of this well‐managed soil. Straw yield was related to grain yield. The relationship expressed in kilograms per hectare, was SY = 285 + 0.77 GY + 0.00029 GY 2 , R 2 = 0.85, P = 0.001, n = 1248). Grain N concentration was greater for spring than for fall‐applied N in 5 of 9 yr, and deep banding superior to broadcasting in 1 of 9 yr.