Effect of increasing the solubility of soil nutrients on quantitative and qualitative yield of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) in Khuzestan province

Acidic modifiers are common methods in high pH soils to increase solubility of nutrients. In order to investigate the possibility of reducing the soil alkalinity and increasing the solubility of nutrients, this experiment was conducted based on factorial in a randomized complete block design with three replications.  The factors including three levels of zero, 250 and 500 kg/ha sulfur sulfate and three levels of zero, 5 and 10 kg/ha thiobacillus bio-fertilizer that performed in three replicates in the Elahi village located in north of Ahvaz in 2017-18. The results showed that the effect of sulfur fertilizer and thiobacillus on number of spikes per square meter, grain number per spike, 1000-grain weight, grain yield, biological yield, harvest index and protein percentage were significant at 1% probability level. The interaction between sulfur and thiobacillus fertilizers on biological yield at 1% and harvest index at 5% probability level was significant. The results of mean comparisons showed that grain yield and protein percentage increased with change in thiobacillus and sulfur content and was statistically different at different levels of treatments. The maximum grain yield was obtained from 500 kg/ha sulfur treatment and 10 kg/ha thiobacillus by 5663 and 5077 kg/ha, respectively, while the minimum grain yield was observed under non-application of sulfur by 3668 kg/ha and non-application of thiobacillus by 4329 kg/ha. The maximum protein content was under 500 kg/ha sulfur and 10 kg/ha thiobacillus by 13.2% and 12.7% and the minimum was in non-application of sulfur by 10.8% and non-application of thiobacillus by 11.6%. In general, the results of the experiment showed that under sulfur and thiobacillus application, it is possible to increase the quantitative and qualitative of yield in wheat. In this experiment, the best result was obtained under 500 kg/ha of sulfur and 10 kg/ha of thiobacillus, which could be considered and recommended by farmers and researchers.