Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-xbtfd Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-03T01:40:53.646Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

The Role of Fertilizer Management in the Development and Expression of Crop Drought Stress in Cereals under Mediterranean Environmental Conditions

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 October 2008

J. D. H. Keatinge
Affiliation:
Farming Systems Program, The International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA), PO Box 5466, Aleppo, Syria
P. J. H. Neate
Affiliation:
Farming Systems Program, The International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA), PO Box 5466, Aleppo, Syria
K. D. Shepherd
Affiliation:
Farming Systems Program, The International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA), PO Box 5466, Aleppo, Syria

Summary

The development and influence of crop drought stress was examined in winter-planted small-grain cereals under Mediterranean environmental conditions. In two average or wetter than average years crop drought stress in the grain-filling period was greatly exacerbated by the addition of fertilizer (N and P) and this usually resulted in significantly lower kernel weights. Yet this reduction was not so substantial as to seriously affect crop yields. Total grain yields were largest in treatments receiving fertilizer, due to greater spike numbers and numbers of kernels per spike. But heavy nitrogen applications may promote the risk of a large proportion of small or shrivelled grains in a dry year.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1985

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Cooper, P. J. M., Allan, A. Y., Harmsen, K., Keatinge, J. D. H., Nygaard, D., Saxena, M. C. & Islam, R. (1981). Soil water and nutrient research 1979–80. ICARDA Project Report 3:5191.Google Scholar
Cooper, P. J. M., Keatinge, J. D. H. & Hughes, G. (1984). Crop evapotranspiration – a technique for calculation of its components by field measurements. Field Crops Research 7:299312.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dennett, M. D., Keatinge, J. D. H. & Rodgers, J. A. (1984). A comparison of rainfall regimes of six sites in northern Syria. Agricultural and Forest Meteorology 31:319328.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dennett, M. D., Rodgers, J. A. & Keatinge, J. D. H. (1983). Simulation of a rainfall record for the site of a new agricultural development: an example from northern Syria. Agricultural Meteorology 29:247258.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Donald, C. M. & Hamblin, J. (1976). The biological yield and harvest index of cereals as agronomic and plant breeding criteria. Advances in Agronomy 28:361405.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fischer, R. A. & Maurer, R. (1978). Drought resistance in spring wheat cultivars I. Grain yield responses. Australian Journal of Agricultural Research 29:897912.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fischer, R. A., Sanchez, M. & Syme, J. R. (1977). Pressure chamber and air flow porometer for rapid field indication of water status and stomatal condition in wheat. Experimental Agriculture 13:341351.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gallagher, J. N. & Biscoe, P. V. (1979). Field studies of cereal leaf growth III. Barley leaf extension in relation to temperature, irradiance and water potential. Journal of Experimental Botany 30:645655.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gallagher, J. N., Biscoe, P. V. & Wallace, J. S. (1979). Field studies of cereal leaf growth IV. Winter wheat leaf extension in relation to temperature and leaf water status. Journal of Experimental Botany 30:657668.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Harris, H. C. (1979). Some aspects of the agroclimatology of North Africa and West Asia. In Proceedings of the International Workshop on Food Legume Improvement and Development 714 (Eds Hawtin, G. C. & Chancellor, G. J.). Ottawa: IDRC.Google Scholar
Hochman, Z. (1982). Effect of water stress with phasic development on yield of wheat grown in a semi-arid environment. Field Crops Research 5:5567.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Keatinge, J. D. H. & Cooper, P. J. M. (1983). Kabuli chickpea as a winter sown crop in northern Syria: moisture relations and crop productivity. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 100:667680.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sojka, R. E., Stolzy, L. H. & Fischer, R. A. (1979). Comparison of diurnal drought response of selected wheat cultivars. Agronomy Journal 71:329335.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Turner, N. C. (1981). Techniques and experimental approaches for the measurement of plant water status. Plant and Soil 58:339366.CrossRefGoogle Scholar