EVALUATION OF ADVANCED WHEAT GENOTYPES FOR ZINC EFFICIENCY AND YIELD Soil and Environmental Sciences Division, Nuclear Institute for Food and Agriculture (NIFA), Tarnab, Peshawar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan
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Abstract
Pakistani soils are alkaline, calcareous in nature and lacking in zinc. This study was carried out to categorize zinc-efficient wheat cultivars/genotypes that can be cultivated more efficiently on zinc-deficient soils. Growing such genotypes can minimize the cost of zinc fertilizer which is essential for elevated wheat productivity, enhanced wheat grain quality and ambiance protection. Three advance wheat genotypes (NIFA-V15, CT-03457 and CT-04192) were tested for Zn efficiency in field condition at NIFA Research Farm during 2011-12. The result revealed that combined application of Zn with N and P significantly increased yield and yield components of all tested wheat genotypes. Application of Zn alone and with N and P increased zinc uptake significantly (? 0.05). Among the wheat genotypes, CT-04192 and NIFA-V15 produced the highest grain yield of 5.74 and 5.65 t ha-1, respectively and also achieved the higher total Zn uptake (181.1, 175.5 g ha-1) as compared to control. On the basis of the results obtained in this study it is assumed that these genotypes (CT-04192 and NIFA-V15) give higher yield along with best quality grain on Zn deficient soils. The use of Zn fertilizer had improved the N and P uptake, enhanced Zn content in soil and improved wheat production.
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