EFFECT OF ZINC AND COPPER ON THE YIELD AND QUALITY OF WHEAT

Abstract

A field experiment was carried out at the experimental field of Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University (SAU) farm, during November 2015 to February 2016, to study the effect of different levels of Zinc (Zn) and Copper (Cu) fertilization on the yield and quality of wheat (BARI Gom-30). The experiment included three levels of Zn viz. 0 (control), 3 kg ha -1 Zn, 6 kg ha -1 Zn and three levels of Cu viz. 0 (control), 2 kg ha Cu and 4 kg ha -1 Cu which were applied as soil application. The experiment was laid out in a randomized complete block design with three replications. The results revealed that yield and yield contributing characters were influenced by different levels of zinc and copper alone and their interaction. The tallest plant (68.22 cm), the highest grain yield (202 g m -2 )/(2.02 t ha -1 ) and the highest concentration of Zn (42.20 ppm) and Cu (4.20 ppm) in wheat grain were obtained from were obtained from Zn 2 treatment (6 kg ha

Zn). On the other hand, the shortest plant (65.58 cm), minimum grain yield (150 g m -2 )/(1.50 t ha -1 ) and the lowest concentration of Zn (27.58 ppm) and Cu (3.85 ppm) in wheat grain were observed when Zn was not applied (Zn treatment). In contrast, plant height (66.60 cm) and grain yield (180.88 g m -2 )/(1.8 t ha -1 0 ) were the highest when Cu 2 treatment (4 kg ha -1 Cu) was imposed. The highest concentration Zn (36.12 ppm) was obtained from Cu 1 treatment (2 kg ha -1 Cu) and Cu (4.66 ppm) obtained from Cu

treatment (4 kg ha -1 Cu) in wheat grain. The shortest plant height (66.03 cm), the lowest grain yield (167.22 g m -2 )/(1.67 t ha -1 ) and the lowest concentration of Zn (32.22 ppm) and Cu (2.82 ppm) being recorded from the control treatment Cu . Among the interactions of Zn and Cu, the tallest plant (69.15 cm), the highest grain (222.66 g m -2 )/(2.22 t ha -1 ) were obtained from combined treatment Zn . The highest concentration of Zn (46.90 ppm) was obtained from Zn 2 Cu 1 2 treatment and Cu (5.10 ppm) was obtained from Zn 2 Cu treatment in wheat grain. On the contrary, the lowest performances for all the studied crop characters and the lowest concentration of Zn and Cu in wheat grain were obtained from the treatment combination Zn 2 0 0 Cu Cu where Zn and Cu were not applied. The results showed that grain yield of wheat increased with increasing levels of both Zn and Cu up to Zn 2 treatment (6 kg ha -1 0 2 Zn) and Cu treatment (4 kg ha -1 Cu), respectively. The effect of Zn was more prominent than with Cu on different yield components and yield of wheat.