Wheat yield and seed physiological quality as influenced by seed vigor, nitrogen fertilization and edaphoclimatic conditions

Abstract

Wheat is one of the most important cereals grown in the world, and in Brazil, increasing national production is still a challenge. Nitrogen (N) supply can favor grain yield and the physiological quality of wheat seeds. However, the definition of adequate N rate and fertilization timing must consider genotype, cultivation environment, and initial seed vigor level. The aim of this work was to evaluate the effect of initial seed vigor and the combinations of rates and timings of N application on grain yield and seed physiological quality of wheat cultivars under different edaphoclimatic conditions. The experiment was carried out in Londrina and Ponta Grossa, state of Paraná, in a randomized block design in a 2 × 2 × 7 factorial scheme, with four replicates. Treatments consisted of two seed vigor levels (vigorous and non-vigorous seeds), two wheat cultivars (BRS Gralha-Azul and BRS Sabiá) and seven combinations of fertilization timings and N rates (kg ha-1) (control-0N; 20N at sowing and 60N at tillering; 40N at sowing; 80N at sowing; 40N at sowing and 40N at tillering; 40N at tillering; 80N at tillering). Number of emerged seedlings, vegetation index, shoot dry matter, number of fertile spikes m-2 and grain yield were evaluated. Additionally, the physiological potential of seeds produced in Londrina was evaluated by the testes of first count, germination, seedling emergence in sand and emergence speed index. The climatic conditions during the experiment, in both cultivation environments, were similar to average historical records, with some periods of water deficit. The highest grain yield was obtained with the BRS Gralha-Azul in Londrina, and with BRS Sabiá in Ponta Grossa. The use of vigorous seeds favored the stand establishment and the response of plants to N fertilization. The treatments 40N + 40N, and 40N + 0N favored the majority of evaluated variables. Both cultivars showed potential for the production of high physiological potential seeds in Londrina environment. Inadequate N supply impairs wheat grain yield and seed production.

Technological quality of wheat grains and flour as affected by nitrogen fertilization and weather condition

“…On the other hand, Yong et al (2004) verified that the falling number was mainly influenced by environmental factors, considering 39 wheat genotypes cultivated in four agroecological zones from China. Therefore, both factors -genotype and environmental conditions -can change the falling number, in addition to influencing other technological quality parameters of wheat flour and grain (Rozbicki et al, 2015;Souza et al, 2021;Faria et al, 2022;Martins et al, 2023), as observed in the present paper.…”

“…The alveography parameters of dough tenacity, extensibility, and P/L ratio varied mainly due to the influence of the genotype factor, which showed an interaction with the environmental conditions. This outcome is attributed to the different adaptability of each genetic material to the specific edaphoclimatic conditions (Gonçalves et al, 2020;Souza et al, 2021). Módenes et al (2009), while evaluating the rheological properties of different flours from Brazilian wheat genotypes, verified that both dough tenacity and extensibility varied according to the genotype used, but these alveography parameters were also influenced by the storage period of the wheat grains before milling, indicating that the environmental conditions can modify the alveography parameters before and after harvesting the grains.…”

“…Among the nutrients supplied through fertilization, nitrogen (N) is emphasized as an element required in larger amounts by crops, especially by plants of the Poaceae family such as wheat (Bazzo et al, 2016;Souza et al, 2021;Marinho et al, 2022a). The importance of N for wheat crops is consensual, considering that N deficit results in smaller plants with fewer fertile tillers and lower N utilization efficiency, which leads to lower grain yield (Ferreira et al, 2021;Souza et al, 2021;Ferreira et al, 2022) and usually reduced grain protein concentration (Souza et al, 2019a;Xue et al, 2019;Lollato et al, 2021). In this context, well-nourished plants -particularly in relation to N -produce grains with better nutritional and morphological quality (i.e.…”

Biostimulant Response of Foliar Application of Rare Earth Elements on Physiology, Growth, and Yield of Rice

“…Studies carried out with plants in soils with different soil and climatic conditions are influenced by them and must be carried out to verify differences related to these contrasting conditions related to plant growth and development [ 20 ] (Moreira et al 2019). The same applies to the need to evaluate physiological characteristics in an edaphoclimatic situation different from those already studied in a temperate climate [ 21 ] (de Souza et al 2021).…”

Nitrogen fertilization and sowing density on yield and physiological quality of wheat seeds

“…However, excessive N rates can cause cell toxicity (Elhanafi et al, 2019), increase the severity of plant diseases such as wheat blast (Magnaporthe oryzae Triticum) (Silva et al, 2019), and, consequently, reduce wheat quality and yield. According to Souza et al (2021), unsuitable N supply impairs the physiological quality of wheat seeds, and the fertilization with 40 kg.ha −1 N at sowing (alone or combined with 40 kg.ha −1 N as topdressing fertilization at the tillering stage) resulted in the production of seeds with better physiological quality.…”