Effect of Anhydrous Ammonia and Compost as Well as N2-Fixing Bacteria on Wheat Plants (Triticum aestavium l.) Grown in Clayey Soils

Abstract

Two field experiments were conducted on a clayey soil at the experimental farm of Gemmeiza Research Station, Al-Gharbia Governorate, Egypt (region Egypt 30 43 latitude and 31 07 longitude ) during winter seasan of 2013/2014 and 2014/2015, to study the response of wheat plants (Triticum aestivum cv. Sakha 93) to application of nitrogen fertilizer from two sources i.e. Anhydrous Ammonia, (AA) at different rates i.e., 0, 50, 75 and 100 kg N fed. -1 and compost (CO) at rates of, 0, 3 and 6 mega gram,( Mg fed. -1 ) in presence or absence of bio inoculation with Azotobacter chroccocum on wheat productivity and macronutrient contents. Also, some soil properties after harvest were taken into consideration. The obtained results could be summarized as follows: 1) Straw, grain and biological yields were significantly increased as a result of different treatments application . The corresponding highest values of biological yield (8.86 Mg fed -1 ( and (3.96 Mg fed -1 ( for grain yield, respectively were obtained due to the applied treatment of (anhydrous ammonia at 100 kg N fed. -1 + 6 Mg fed. -1 compost + bio). The same treatment led to a significant increase in 1000-grain weight. 2) Content of N, P & K by wheat straw was significantly affected by the addition of different treatments. The highest values (76.9 and 128.4 kg fed. -1 ) for N and K content, respectively were obtained due to the addition treatment of (100kg N fed. -1 as AA + 6 Mg fed. -1 compost + bio) while, (26.8 kg fed. -1 ) for P-content was observed owing to (anhydrous ammonia at 100 kg N fed. -1 + 6 Mg fed. -1 compost). 3) Content of N, P & K by wheat grain was clearly affected by the addition of different treatments. The highest values (87.1, 26.9 and 80.0 kg fed. -1 ), respectively were obtained due to the same treatment of grain yield. 4) Highest protein content and protein yield for grains were obtained due to the addition treatment of (anhydrous ammonia at 100 kg N fed. -1 + 6 Mg fed. -1 compost + bio). 5) Maximum harvest index and yield efficiency were obtained due to (50 kg N fed. -1 as anhydrous ammonia + biofertilization) treatment. 6) The electrical conductivity (EC dSm -1 ) and soil pH values decreased due to the Addition of treatments as compared with the non-treated plots. 7) Soil available N, P and K were increased due to application of different treatments relative to untreated plots. The highest values were observed due to (anhydrous ammonia at 100 kg N fed. -1 + 6 Mg fed. -1 compost + biofertilization) treatment.