Response of wheat for NPK foliar sprays under water stress condition

Abstract

Wheat is the important cereal crop of India which is grown under flood irrigation with traditional nutrient management. In this context a field experiment to study the response of NPK foliar sprays on yield and quality of wheat under water stress condition especially for newly released wheat variety NIAW 1415 (Netravati) was carried out at Agricultural Research Station, Niphad, Dist. Nashik, Maharashtra. The main treatments were comprised of different irrigation levels i.e. one irrigation at 40-42 days after sowing (DAS), two irrigations at 20-22 and 60-65 DAS and three irrigations at 20-22, 40-42 and 60-65 DAS. The sub treatments were absolute control, general recommended dose of fertilizer (GRDF), GRDF+ 3 water sprays, 75 % of GRDF+ 3 NPK foliar sprays (19:19:19 N:P2O5:K2O) and 100 % of GRDF + 3 NPK sprays. The results of two years experimentation revealed that, irrigating the wheat variety NIAW 1415 with three irrigations at 20-22, 40-42 and 60-65 DAS along with 100 % of GRDF + 3 NPK sprays produced significantly higher grain (45.11 q ha-1) and straw (68.67 q ha-1) yields over rest of the treatments. Nutritional status of the soil was also improved due to different nutrient treatments over initial status.