The effect of seed zinc internal content and foliar application of zinc sulfate on yield and storage compositions of wheat grain

In order to investigate the effect of seed zinc internal content and foliar application of zinc sulfate on yield and quality of grain bread wheat Kohdasht cultivar the present research as potted was conducted in Maragheh University in 2014. The experiment as factorial was carried out based on randomized complete blocks design with three replications. The first factor was seed zinc internal content including low zinc seeds (199 Nano gram per seed) and high zinc seeds (595 Nano gram zinc per seed) and the second factor foliar application of zinc sulfate including non foliar application (control) and foliar application at a concentration of two grams per liter at stem elongation and at the beginning of the grain filling stages. The results showed that high seed zinc content had significant effect at five percent level on the percentage of emergence, grain yield and harvest index, but no significant effect on biomass production, one-thousand grain weight, number of grain per spike, number of spikelet’s fertile per spike and concentration of micronutrient in grains. Also, foliar application of zinc sulfate was signification on grain yield, biomass, number of grain per spike, number of spikelet’s fertile and plant height that caused increasing to 58.3, 46, 78.6, 26.1 and five percent of all the mentioned traits, respectively, compared to control (non irrigation) and as well increased 18.5 and 33.2 percent to concentrations of zinc and manganese in wheat but had no significant effect on iron and copper concentrations. The foliar application of zinc sulfate caused 24/7 percent reduction on phytic acid in grain, but no statistically significant difference to non-foliar application.