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Effect of water availability and nitrogen source on wheat growth and nitrogen-use efficiency
Citation
Kisaakye, E and Botwright Acuna, T and Johnson, P and Shabala, S, Effect of water availability and nitrogen source on wheat growth and nitrogen-use efficiency, Proceedings of the 17th Australian Society of Agronomy Conference, 20-24 September 2015, Hobart, Australia, pp. 1-4. (2015) [Refereed Conference Paper]
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Copyright Statement
Copyright 2015 the author
Official URL: http://www.agronomyaustralia.org/
Abstract
Soil moisture content has a significant impact on soil nutrient availability. Excessive soil moisture due to
waterlogging can severely reduce nutrient availability through denitrification, leaching and restricted root
growth, which impairs nutrient uptake by plants. This reduces nitrogen (N) uptake and utilization by plants
thereby decreasing nitrogen-use efficiency (NUE). Controlled-release fertilizers (CRFs) can improve NUE
through synchronisation between N supply and crop demand. A study was conducted to investigate whether
timing of N application and source of applied N can alleviate the adverse effects of waterlogging on wheat
growth and improve NUE. A split-plot design experiment with irrigation regime as main-plot factor and
nitrogen application sub-plot factor was setup. Irrigation regimes included waterlogged and rainfed; nitrogen
treatments included: nil N, single-and split-applied urea and CRF. Wheat growth and yield attributes were
monitored during stem elongation and anthesis. Grain yield and NUE were determined at harvest. The
study findings showed that waterlogging significantly (P<0.05) decreased tiller number, ear number and
NUE for all nitrogen treatments. Although split-applied urea had a higher number of tillers and ears than
single-applied urea under waterlogged conditions at harvest, there was no significant yield advantage under
both irrigation regimes. The CRF increased grain yield by 1t/ha compared to both single- and split- applied
urea of the waterlogged treatment. CRF also improved wheat NUE by 7% and 10% under rainfed and
waterlogged conditions respectively.
Item Details
| Item Type: | Refereed Conference Paper |
|---|---|
| Keywords: | triticum aestivum, duplex soil, enhanced-efficiency fertilizers, yield components, nitrogen fertilizer and high rainfall zone |
| Research Division: | Agricultural, Veterinary and Food Sciences |
| Research Group: | Crop and pasture production |
| Research Field: | Agronomy |
| Objective Division: | Plant Production and Plant Primary Products |
| Objective Group: | Grains and seeds |
| Objective Field: | Wheat |
| UTAS Author: | Kisaakye, E (Ms Eseeri Kisaakye) |
| UTAS Author: | Botwright Acuna, T (Professor Tina Acuna) |
| UTAS Author: | Johnson, P (Dr Peter Johnson) |
| UTAS Author: | Shabala, S (Professor Sergey Shabala) |
| ID Code: | 103202 |
| Year Published: | 2015 |
| Deposited By: | Tasmanian Institute of Agriculture |
| Deposited On: | 2015-09-25 |
| Last Modified: | 2016-05-09 |
| Downloads: | 143 View Download Statistics |
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