Response of Physiological and Biochemical Characteristics of Aseman Wheat Cultivar to Foliar Application Zinc and Iron Micronutrient in Dryland Conditions

Due to the lack of micronutrient elements and the urgent need for biofortification in important and strategic plants in the nutrition of human society such as wheat, it is necessary to evaluate any strategy to optimize the quality and production of this product. This has led researchers to investigate the effect of foliar application of zinc and iron at different stages of growth to evaluate grain yield and quality traits of wheat.

In order to investigate the effect of foliar application of zinc and iron on the traits zinc and iron concentration and leaf chlorophyll content, nitrogen content in flag leaf, chlorophyll index, canopy temperature, Cytoplasmic membrane stability, grain nitrogen percentage, grain protein yield and grain yield of dryland wheat of Aseman cultivar, the experimental was carried out as a factorial based on randomized complete block design with 4 replications at the Agricultural Research Station And natural resources of Gonbad Kavous was done in 2019-2020 crop year. Experimental factors include foliar application at four levels (foliar application of zinc, foliar application of iron, simultaneous application of zinc and iron and foliar application of pure water as a control) and the second factor at three levels of foliar application time (tillering, shoot elongation and grain filling) Was considered.

The results showed that foliar spraying with iron, foliar application of zinc and mixed use of iron + zinc had a significant effect on the studied traits. Also, foliar application at different stages of growth had a significant effect on the evaluated traits except chlorophyll index and grain yield. The interaction effect of foliar application at the time of foliar application also showed that the maximum amount of zinc in the flag leaf was related to the foliar application of zinc (at grain filling time) and the highest amount of iron in the flag leaf was related to the combined foliar application of zinc and iron (in Grain filling stage) and foliar application of iron (at the shoot elongation stage) were obtained. The highest percentage of grain nitrogen was obtained in foliar application of iron (2.06%) and foliar application simultaneous of zinc and iron (2.04%) at the time of shoot elongation foliar application. Who were statistically in a group. In addition, the grain protein yield in the simultaneous foliar application of zinc and iron at the time of shoot elongation had the highest amount compared to other treatments. Finally, the highest grain yield was obtained by simultaneous application of iron and zinc at grain filling time and shoot elongation.

In general, foliar application of zinc and iron micronutrients improved the quality traits of wheat and increased wheat grain yield compared to the control treatment. Also, foliar application of iron and zinc elements alone or in combination with each other increased grain yield and qualitative traits of dryland wheat in the climatic conditions of the region.