Interaction Effects of Nitrogen and Organic Matters on Growth and Yield of Dryland Wheat ( Triticum aestivum L.)

In order to evaluate the interaction effects of nitrogen and organic matter on growth and yield of dryland wheat, an experiment was conducted at the research station of the College of Agriculture, Shiraz University at Bajgah in 2005 and 2006. The experimental design was split plot in which three levels of nitrogen (0, 40, and 80 kg N ha -1) were main factors and additive organic matters including liquorice root residue at 15 and 30 Mg ha -1, municipal waste compost at 10 and 20 Mg ha -1, and wheat residues at 750 and 1500 kg ha -1 (all rates equivalent to 50 and 100%) were sub factors. A check treatment (no additive materials) was also included in the experiment. Results indicated that with increasing nitrogen level from zero to 40 and 40 to 80 kg ha-1, wheat yield increased significantly. Among yield components, number of seeds per spike increased significantly with zero to 40 and 40 to 80 kg nitrogen ha-1, but number of spikes m-2 increased significantly only when nitrogen level was increased from zero to 80 kg ha-1. Compared to check (no additive materials), maximum wheat grain yield (32%) was obtained from 100% compost application. Results of nitrogen and organic matters interaction effects indicated that 100% compost application and increasing nitrogen level from 40 to 80 kg ha -1 had no significant effect on dryland wheat yield. This showed the positive impact of compost application on the reduction of nitrogen fertilizer. Thus, it appears that 50% of the required nitrogen fertilizer could be replaced by compost. Applying organic matter increased soil water in both years, however, among organic matters, compost had a more pronounced effect on increasing soil water.