Effect of Different Organic Mulches and Nitrogen Sources on the Productivity of Wheat Crop Grown in Semi-Arid Area
Effect of Different Organic Mulches and Nitrogen Sources on the Productivity of Wheat Crop Grown in Semi-Arid Area
Muhammad Usman Aslam1, Muhammad Umer Chattha1, Imran Khan1, Rizwan Maqbool1, Muhammad Bilal Chattha2*, Fiaz Hussan3, Muhammad Nawaz4, Muhammad Shakeel Hanif5, Muhammad Ahsin Ayub6, Muhammad Talha Aslam1, Mina Khan7 and Muhammad Umair Hassan1
ABSTRACT
Organic mulches as a soil cover effectively improved soil quality and crop yield. Likewise, application of right nitrogen (N) source also plays an imperative role to increase the crop production and decrease N losses. Therefore, this investigation was aimed at to determine the effect of various N sources and organic mulches on productivity of wheat grown in semi-arid area. The experiment was comprised of different organic mulches, i.e. M1 = no mulch (control), M2 = maize straw mulch (5 t ha-1), M3 = wheat straw mulch (5 t ha-1), M4 = sorghum straw mulch (5 t ha-1) and nitrogen sources i.e., NS1 = urea, NS2 = ammonium sulfate (AS) and NS3 = calcium ammonium nitrate (CAN). The application of sorghum straw mulch significantly reduced weed biomass compared to other mulch. Moreover, sorghum straw mulch also resulted in maximum leaf area index (LAI), crop growth rate (CGR), productive tillers (323.11), spikelet/spike (15.88), grains/spike (44.55), 1000-grain weight (42.13g), grain yield (5.13 t ha-1) and biological yield (14.59 t ha-1) and minimum, LAI, CGR and tillers (291.55), spikelet/spike (12.55), grains/spike (36.11), 1000-grain weight (35.91g), grain yield (3.67 t ha-1) and biological yield (11.80 t ha-1) was noticed in control (no mulch) . In case of nitrogen sources maximum LAI, CGR and productive tillers (316.91), spikelet/spike (14.91), grains/spike (42.25), 1000-grain weight (41.15g), grain yield (4.60 t ha-1) and biological yield (13.72 t ha-1) was recorded with application of CAN and minimum LAI, CGR and tillers (306.00), spikelet/spike (13.83), grains/spike (38.83), 1000-grain weight (36.83g), grain yield (4.28 t ha-1) and biological yield (12.59 t ha-1) was recorded in urea. Therefore, these results suggested that sorghum straw mulch and N in the form of calcium ammonium nitrate can effectively improve the wheat production in semi-arid areas.
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