Nitrogen Fertilizer Management in Dryland Wheat Cropping Systems

Abstract

Wheat is the most widely cultivated food crop in the world, which provides nutrition to most of the world population and is well adapted to a wide range of environmental conditions. Timely and efficient rates of nitrogen (N) application are vital for increasing wheat grain yield and protein content, and maintaining environmental sustainability. The goal of this study was to investigate the effect of using different rates and split application of N on the performance of spring wheat in dryland cropping systems. The experiment was conducted in three different locations in Montana and Idaho during two consecutive growing seasons. A split-plot experimental design was used with three at planting N fertilization application (0, 90 and 135 kg N ha−1) and two topdressing N fertilization strategies as treatments. A number of variables such as grain yield (GY), protein content (GP) in the grains and N uptake (NUP) were assessed. There was a significant effect of climate, N rate, and time application on the wheat performance. The results showed that at-planting N fertilizer application of 90 kg N ha−1 has significantly increased GY, GP and NUP. On the other hand, for these site-years, increasing at-planting N fertilizer rate to 135 kg N ha−1 did not further enhance wheat GY, GP and NUP values. For all six site-years, topdress N fertilizer applied at flowering did not improve wheat GY, GP and NUP compared to at-planting fertilizer alone. As the risk of yield loss is minimal with split N application, from these results we concluded the best treatment for study is treatments that had received 90 kg N ha−1 split as 45 kg N ha−1 at planting and 45 kg N ha−1 at flowering.

Winter Wheat Response to Fertilizer Type and Timing in Western South Dakota

“…The effects of split‐applying N showed relatively modest increases in grain yield and protein content in this study. These results are comparable to Walsh et al (2018), who found little effect from split‐applying N on spring wheat in a similar climate in Montana. However, previous research has shown that late‐season N applications can result in higher protein content, which is supported by Treatment 7 of the current study.…”

Efficiency of Nitrogen Fertilization of Winter Wheat Depending on Sulfur Fertilization

“…Zhang et al [44] indicated that discrepancies in the optimal N dose and maximum yield may have resulted from environmental variability. Walsh et al [45] did not find any significant differences in wheat grain yield under two levels of N fertilization: 90 and 135 kg N ha −1 . Haile et al [46] reported that different rates of N fertilization significantly increased wheat grain yield, and its maximum was achieved by application of 120 kg N ha −1 (however, optimal yield was not achieved as the response apparently did not plateau out).…”

Effects of water deficit and different nitrogen fertilizer treatments on the quality of wheat for Chinese fresh white noodles and steamed bread and the composition of storage proteins

“…The grain yield generally increases with the increase in nitrogen application within a certain range. However, the grain yield neither significantly increased nor decreased when the nitrogen fertilizer was applied outside a certain range . The experiments from three nitrogen levels (0, 120, and 240 kg ha −1 ) showed that wheat yield and nitrogen fertilizer absorption efficiency were significantly increased at 240 kg ha −1 .…”

“…However, the grain yield neither significantly increased nor decreased when the nitrogen fertilizer was applied outside a certain range. 47 The experiments from three nitrogen levels (0, 120, and 240 kg ha −1 ) showed that wheat yield and nitrogen fertilizer absorption efficiency were significantly increased at 240 kg ha −1 . 48 Our recent studies have also indicated that the application of 240 kg ha −1 nitrogen significantly promoted the thousand-grain weight, grain yield, protein content, dough strength, and breadmaking quality when compared with 180 kg ha −1 .…”