Influence of foliar nutrition on yield and yield components of durum wheat (Triticum durum Desf.) grown in system of organic production

Abstract

This paper examines the effect of foliar nitrogen nutrition on seven durum wheat genotypes produced according to the principles of organic production. The experiments were performed during two growing seasons on organic farm in Čačak, Serbia. Three different N fertilization strategies have been compared: T1- control without N application after the stem elongation stage; T2- foliar N fertilization at the beginning of heading, one spray with 0.3% organic fertilizer Trainer (5% N and 31% amino acids); T3- foliar N fertilization in both stages, heading and anthesis with 0.3% organic fertilizer Trainer (5% N) each. Analysis of grain yield and yield components (number of spikes m-2, number of grains per spike and thousand grain weight (TGW) was performed. The number of spikes per square meter, number of grains spike-1, TGW, and grain yield significantly increased (P ≤ 0.01) with different levels of fertilizers. Foliar fertilization had a significant effect on yield in both growing seasons. Grain yield, on average for all genotypes and years after spraying were 22% (one N treatment), and 54% (two N treatments) higher than in the control. Grain yield was about 26% higher in two N treatments than in one N treatment. Grain yield was positively correlated with other traits (TGW, number of spikes m-2 and number of grains/spike).