Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-8bhkd Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-05T16:42:42.266Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

A comparison of the responses of two cultivars of late-autumn-sown wheat to applied nitrogen

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 March 2009

J. Webb  and
R. Sylvester-Bradley
J. Webb
Affiliation:
ADAS Nobel House, London SW1P 3JR, UK
R. Sylvester-Bradley
Affiliation:
ADAS Soil and Water Research Centre, Anstey Hall, Cambridge CB2 2LF, UK
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

At four pairs of sites in the UK, two cultivars of wheat, bred either for autumn (cv. Mercia) or for spring (cv. Tonic) sowing were sown in November 1988 and 1989 and their yield response to springapplied fertilizer N assessed over the range 0–320 kg/ha N. Grain samples were taken at harvest and analysed for those qualities regarded as indicators of suitability for milling. In five experiments, the grain yield of Mercia was up to 1 t/ha greater than that of Tonic, but overall there was no consistent difference between the two cultivars in the optimum economic yield (Yopt)or in the amount of fertilizer N needed to produce it (Nopt). Both cultivars produced c. 17·5 kg of grain per kg of fertilizer N applied up to Nopl. In the five experiments in which Tonic yielded less, it produced grain of greater N concentration than Mercia when given the same amount of fertilizer N. Differences in grain N concentration, while small (< 0·3%), were significant when analysed across sites. In six experiments both cultivars produced grain of 11 % protein at Nopt. There were no consistent or worthwhile increases in specific weight, Hagberg falling number (HFN) or response to the sodium dodecyl sulphate (SDS) sedimentation test of either cultivar from applying more fertilizer N than Nopl. The average specific weight of Mercia grain was 2·5 kg/hi greater than that of Tonic, while Tonic gave larger SDS values of c. 8. There was little difference in HFN. It was concluded that the yield requirement for fertilizer N was similar for these two cultivars of wheat when sown in late autumn, and there was no need to apply differential fertilizer N applications to the cultivars to produce grain of the quality needed for breadmaking. In four experiments the application of plant growth regulator (PGR) increased the yields of both cultivars by c. 0·5 t/ha.

Type
Crops and Soils
Information
The Journal of Agricultural Science , Volume 125 , Issue 1 , August 1995 , pp. 11 - 24
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1995

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

Anderson, W. K. (1985). Differences in response of winter cereal varieties to applied nitrogen in the field. I. Some factors affecting the variability of responses between sites and seasons. Field Crops Research 11, 353–367.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Anderson, W. K., Seymour, M. & D'antuano, M. F. (1991). Evidence for differences between cultivars in responsiveness of wheat to applied nitrogen. Australian Journal of Agricultural Research 42, 363–377.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Austin, R. B. & Ford, M. A. (1989). Effects of nitrogen fertilizer on the performance of old and new varieties of winter wheat. Vortrage fur Pflanzenzuchtung 16, 307—315.Google Scholar
Bloom, T. M., Sylvester-Bradley, R., Vaidyanathan, L. V. & Murray, A. W. A. (1988). Apparent recovery of fertiliser nitrogen by winter wheat. In Nitrogen Efficiency in Agricultural Soils(Eds Jenkinson, D. S. & Smith, K. A.), pp. 27–37. London: Elsevier Applied Science.Google Scholar
Cook, R. (1992). Nitrogen, fungicides and grain quality in wheat. In Producing Quality Wheat for the Market (Eds Read, B., Hudson, P., Gill, B., Gordon, P. & Limb, P.), pp. 35–48. London: Home-Grown Cereals Authority.Google Scholar
Fielder, A. (1988). Interactions Between Cultivar and Sowing Date for Winter Wheat and Winter Barley. London: Home-Grown Cereals Authority.Google Scholar
Gale, M. D., Flintham, J. E. & Arthur, E. D. (1983). Alpha-amylase production in the late stages of grain development - an early sprouting damage risk period? In Third International Symposium on Pre-harvest Sprouting in Cereals Kruger, J. E. & LeBerge, D. E.), pp. 29–35. Boulds, Colorado, USA: Westview Press.Google Scholar
Gardener, C. J. & Rathjen, A. J. (1975). The differential response of barley genotypes to nitrogen application in a Mediterranean-type climate. Australian Journal of Agricultural Research 26, 219–230.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gedye, D. J., Doling, D. A. & Kingswood, K. W. (1981). Wheat quality: test weight. In A Farmers Guide to Wheat Quality, p. 40. Stoneleigh: National Agricultural Centre, Cereal Unit.Google Scholar
Gooding, M. J., Kettlewell, P. S., Da Vies, W. P. & Hocking, T. J. (1986). Effects of spring nitrogen fertilizer on the Hagberg falling number of grain from breadmaking varieties of winter wheat. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 107, 475–477.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Martin, M., Miceli, F., Mosca, G. & Zerbi, G. (1990). Influence of nitrogen level and timing of application on the yield of winter wheat varieties. Agricultura Mediterranea 120, 129–137.Google Scholar
McDonald, H. G. (1986). Good reasons for sowing autumn-sown spring wheat. Arable Farming 13 (10), 20–30.Google Scholar
McDonald, H. G. & Vaidyanathan, L. V. (1987). Effects of nitrogen fertiliser on the Hagberg falling number of winter wheat. Aspects of Applied Biology 15, Cereal Quality, 359–364.Google Scholar
McNeal, F. H., Berg, M. A., Brown, P. L. & McGuire, C. F. (1971). Productivity and quality response of five spring wheat genotypes, Triticum aeslivumL., to nitrogen fertilizer. Agronomy Journal 63, 908–910.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1986). The Analysis of Agricultural Materials, 3rd Edn, Reference Book 427. London: HMSO.Google Scholar
Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1988). Fertilizer Recommendations for Agricultural and Horticultural Crops, 5th Edn. Reference Book 209. London: HMSO.Google Scholar
National Institute of Agricultural Botany (1991). Recommended List of Cereal Varieties 1991. Farmers Leaflet No. 8. Cambridge: NIAB.Google Scholar
Osborne, B. (1992). Review of FMBRA research on wheat quality. In Producing Quality Wheat for the Market Read, B., Hudson, P., Gill, B., Gordon, P. & Limb, P.), pp. 49–58. London: Home-Grown Cereals Authority.Google Scholar
Perten, H. (1964). Application of the falling number method for evaluating alpha-amylase activity. Cereal Chemistry 41, 127–140.Google Scholar
Pushman, F. M. (1975). The effects of alteration of grain moisture by wetting or drying on the test weight of four winter wheats. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 84, 187–190.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pushman, F. M. & Bingham, J. (1976). The effects of a granular nitrogen fertilizer and a foliar spray of urea on the yield and bread-making quality of ten winter wheats. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 87, 281–292.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stewart, B. A. (1984). Quality requirements: milling wheat. In Cereal Production(Ed. Gallagher, E. J.), pp. 113–117. London: Butterworths.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sylvester-Bradley, R., Dampney, P. M. R. & Murray, A. W. A. (1984). The response of winter wheat to nitrogen. In The Nitrogen Requirement of Cereals (Eds Needham, P., Archer, J. R., Sylvester-Bradley, R. & Goodlass, G.), pp. 151–176. London: HMSO.Google Scholar
Tottman, D. R. (1987). The decimal code for the growth stages of cereals, with illustrations. Annals of Applied Biology 110, 441–454.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Webb, J., Froment, M. & Sylvester-Bradley, R. (1991). Effects of cultivation and nitrification inhibitor on soil nitrogen availability after a grass ley and on the response of the following cereal crop to fertilizer nitrogen. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 117, 9–21.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Webb, J., Sylvester-Bradley, R. & Wafford, J. D. (1995). Influence of sowing date on the uptake of and responses to soil and fertilizer nitrogen by the spring wheat cultivar Tonic. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 125, 25–37.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Withers, P. J. A. (1987). Effect of applied nitrogen on specific weight of winter wheat. Aspects of Applied Biology 15, Cereal Quality, 289–292.Google Scholar