SUMMARY
Increasing wheat production has become an urgent requirement to cope with rapid population growth and abrupt climate change. The management of phosphorus (P) and nitrogen (N) is one of the most important factors for sustaining and increasing wheat production, particularly in semiarid environments. This 2-year field study, which aimed to investigate the effect of P levels (0, 35, and 70 kg P2O5 ha−1) and N forms (urea, ammonium sulfate, and ammonium nitrate) on the yield attributes of three diverse highyielding commercial wheat cultivars (‘Shandawel-1’, ‘Sids-14’, and ‘Sakha-95’), was carried out at Om-Elzain Village, Zagazig, Egypt. The results indicated that increasing P levels was accompanied by a substantial increase in all evaluated traits, except spike length, and that high P level (70 kg P2O5 ha−1) was superior. Considerable genetic variation was detected among the evaluated cultivars for all studied traits. Cultivar ‘Sakha-95’, followed by ‘Sids14’, presented the most vigorous growth and enhancements in most yield components, grain yield, and biological yield. Furthermore, ‘Sakha-95’ recorded the highest agronomic P use efficiency, followed by cultivar ‘Sids-14’. N forms did not significantly affect all of the tested traits except plant height, spike number m−2, and 1000-grain weight, during both seasons. Ammonium-containing fertilizer (ammonium sulfate and ammonium nitrate) resulted in the highest values for these traits when compared with urea. Accordingly, ‘Sakha-95’ and ‘Sids-14’ are recommended for commercial use under high P levels. N forms had a marginally substantial effect on grain yield and its attributes.
Keywords: Phosphorus levels, nitrogen forms, wheat cultivars, grain yield and its attributes, agronomic phosphorus use efficiency, principal component analysis
DOI: http://doi.org/10.54910/sabrao2021.53.4.4