Effect of wheat Enrichment by Foliar Application of Zinc and Iron on Quantitive and Qualitative Traits at Differnt Phenological Stages

Zinc (Zn) and Iron (Fe) are important micronutrients in plant growth and their deficiency in plants, especially in cereal crops, is a major nutritional problem in the world. In order to study the effect of foliar application of zinc and iron on the qualitative traits and grain yield of dryland wheat of Aseman cultivar an experiment was conducted at Gonbad Kavous Agricultural Researches Center during 2019-2020. The experimental was carried out as a factorial based on Randomized Complete Block design with 4 replications. Experimental factors included: foliar application of zinc (2g. L-1) and iron (3g. L-1) were at four levels (foliar application of iron and zinc and combined application of zinc and iron and pure water (control)) and foliar spraying time was at three levels (tillering, shoot elongation and seed filling). The measurements included, grain yield, zinc and iron concentration of grain, grain protein content and leaf photosynthetic pigments content. Results showed that foliar application had a significant effect on the studied traits except chlorophyll a/b ratio. Foliar spraying time was also significantly different in grain protein content, iron and zinc concentration of grain, chlorophyll a and carotenoid content. Foliar application treatments (zinc, iron and mixed zinc and iron) had a significant increase in the concentration of grain zinc and iron as well as grain protein and grain yield in comparison with the control treatment. In general, foliar application of zinc and iron, respectively caused an increase zinc concentration (39.85%) and iron concentration (89.43%) of grain in compared to control. The highest (11.45%) and lowest (7.87%) grain protein obtained from mixed consumption of zinc and iron and control respectively. The foliar application mixed of zinc and iron caused an increase in grain yield (42.48%) in compared to the control. Interaction of foliar application × foliar application time showed that the highest amount of grain yield was belonged to simultaneous treatment of zinc and iron in the stages of grain filling and shoot elongation with averages of 8625 and 8600 kg/ha, respectively. It could be concluded that zinc and iron fertilizer applications cause an increase in the concentration of nutrients and grain yield of dry wheat in the climatic conditions of the this region.