Nitrogen use efficiency, yield and yield traits of wheat response to slow-releasing N fertilizer under balanced fertilization in Vertisols and Cambisols of Tigray, Ethiopia

Figures & data

Table 1. Selected physical and chemical properties of the soils of experimental sites sampled at 0–20 cm depth

Soil parameters	Experimental sites
	Cambisols (Hawzien)			Vertisols (Emba Alaje)
	Field 1	Field 2	Field 3	Field 1	Field 2	Field 3
Sand (%)	71	65	63	25	27	19
Silt (%)	13	15	19	29	35	25
Clay (%)	16	20	18	46	38	56
Textural Class	SL	SL	SL	C	CL	C
pH(1:2.5 H2O)	6.2	6.1	6.2	6.7	6.4	6.6
Organic Matter (%)	1.38	0.89	1.18	1.667	2.972	2.61
Total Nitrogen (%)	0.082	0.051	0.073	0.157	0.211	0.204
Available Phosphorous(mg kg^−1)	5.04	6.34	5.54	9.7	16.74	11.86
Available K (ppm)	122	127	228	144	191	162
Cation Exchange Capacity (cmol (+) kg^−1)	19.4	21.4	18.8	38	57.4	48.2

Adopted from Dargie et al. (2018).

Table 2. Effect of conventional urea and UREA^Stabil on plant height, spike length and number of effective tillers of wheat

Nitrogen levels (kg ha^−1)	Experimental sites
	Cambisols (Hawzien)			Vertisols (Emba Alaje)
	PH (cm)	SL(cm)	NET	PH (cm)	SL(cm)	NET
0 N	61.8 c	6.24d	3.27 c	86.09b	7.08 c	8.73 c
32 N (UREA^Stabil)	67.73b	6.95bc	5.44a	91.48a	7.47b	9.36bc
64 N (UREA^Stabil)	70.91a	7.18ab	5.11ab	92.09a	8.04a	11.3a
96 N (UREA^Stabil)	68.82ab	7.37a	5.36a	91.2a	7.9a	10.53a
64 N (Conventional Urea)	66.42b	6.82 c	4.69b	92.72a	7.88a	10.29ab
Mean	67.14	6.915	4.77	90.717	7.673	10.045
LSD (0.05)	2.981	0.285	0.5965	2.9498	0.3624	1.1308
CV (%)	4.644	4.309	13.058	3.401	4.94	11.774

PH – plant height; NET – number of tillers; SL – spike length. Means with the same letter are not significantly different.

Table 3. Mean of number of seeds per spike, thousand seed weight of wheat as affected by Conventional urea and UREA^Stabil fertilizers

Nitrogen level (kg ha^−1)	Experimental sites
	Cambisols (Hawzien)		Vertisols (Emba Alaje)
	NSPS	TSW (gm)	NSPS	TSW (gm)
0 N	32.75 c	30.07b	40.98b	47.93
32 N (UREA^Stabil)	36.98ab	31.37ab	42.67ab	48.9
64 N(UREA^Stabil)	38.18a	33.65a	44.48a	49.46
96 N(UREA^Stabil)	38.76a	32.8ab	45.44a	49.27
64 N(Conventional Urea)	35.84b	33.82a	44.6a	51.63
Mean	36.50222	32.344	43.64	49.44
LSD (0.05)	1.8033	3.2703	2.938	NS
CV (%)	5.167	10.575	7.041	8.581

NSPS – number of seed per spike, TSW – thousand seed weight (gm). Means with the same letter are not significantly different.

Table 4. Mean of grain yield, straw yield, and harvest index as affected by Conventional Urea and UREA^Stabil fertilizers on wheat

Nitrogen levels (kg ha^−1)	Experimental sites
	Cambisols (Hawzien)			Vertisols (Emba Alaje)
	Grain Yield kg ha^−1	Straw Yield kg ha ^−1	Harvest Index (%)	Grain Yield kg ha^−1	Straw Yield kg ha ^−1	Harvest Index (%)
0 N	1102.73d	2259.3c	32.5	4043.5c	5906.0d	41.1
32 N (UREA^Stabil)	1393.22c	2850.0b	33.	4313.9c	6277.6cd	41.
64 N(UREA^Stabil)	1708.33a	3400.0a	33.7	4812.2b	6718.2bc	42.5
96 N(UREA^Stabil)	1633.91ab	3127.8ab	35.4	4909.1b	7064.0b	41.4
64 N (Conventional Urea)	1543.19bc	3168.5a	32.9	5467.9a	7810.1a	41.4
Mean	1476.279	2961.11	33.515	4709.306	6755.207	41.49
LSD (0.05)	151.89	311.09	NS	486.13	548.13	NS
CV (%)	10.761	10.988	9.351	10.797	8.487	7.20

Means with the same letter are not significantly different.

Table 5. Nitrogen use efficiency indices in Cambisols of Hawzien and Vertisols of Emba Alaje

Nitrogen levels (kg ha^−1)	Experimental sites
	Cambisols (Hawzien)			Vertisols (Emba Alaje)
	AE (kg kg^−1)	PE (kg ha^−1)	ARE	AE (kg kg^−1)	PE (kg ha^−1)	ARE
0 N	0	0	0	0	0	0
32 N (UREA^Stabil)	9.08	52.55	0.52	8.44	45.33	0.46
64 N(UREA^Stabil)	8.97	55.44	0.49	12.01	85.62	0.33
96 N(UREA^Stabil)	4.53	53.46	0.27	10.35	83.83	0.30
64 N (Conventional Urea)	6.45	84.59	0.34	22.25	93.7	0.59

AE – agronomic efficiency, PE – physiological efficiency, ARE – apparent recovery efficiency.

Figure 1. Grain, straw and total uptake of wheat at Hawzien and Emba Alaje.

Table 6. Correlation among phenological parameters, growth parameters, yield traits and grain yield of wheat on Cambisols of Hawzien District

	PH	SL	NSPS	NET	GY	TSW	SY	HI
PH
SL	0.645**
NSPS	0.612**	0.857**
NET	0.726**	0.640**	0.638**
GY	0.625**	0.289ns	0.203ns	0.456**
TSW	0.042ns	−0.081ns	−0.079ns	0.055ns	0.365*
SY	0.749**	0.639**	0.659**	0.690**	0.513**	0.152ns
HI	0.106ns	−0.136ns	−0.255ns	−0.020ns	0.688**	0.222ns	−0.244ns

* indicates significance level at <0.05 and ** indicates significance level at <0.01

Table 7. Correlation among phenological parameters, growth traits and grain yield of wheat on Vertisols of Emba Alaje district

	PH	SL	NET	NSPS	GY	SY	TSW	HI
PH
SL	0.793**
NET	0.829**	0.742**
NSPS	0.804**	0.790**	0.791**
GY	0.771**	0.732**	0.751**	0.661**
SY	0.789**	0.679**	0.798**	0.693**	0.891**
TSW	0.771**	0.615**	0.656**	0.574**	0.636**	0.532**
HI	−0.283ns	−0.138ns	−0.352*	−0.295*	−0.140ns	−0.566**	0.029ns

*and **, significant at P < 0.05 and P < 0.01, respectively, and figures with ns are not significant.

Dargie, S., Wogi, L., & Kidanu, S. (2018). Response of bread wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) to application of slow releasing nitrogen fertilizer in Tigray. Ethiopian Journal of Agricultural Science, 28(1), 111–126.

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