Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-94fs2 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-14T22:33:35.195Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Effects of previous crop, sowing date, and winter and spring applications of nitrogen on the growth, nitrogen uptake and yield of winter wheat

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 March 2009

G. F. J. Milford ,
A. Penny ,
R. D. Prew ,
R. J. Darby  and
A. D. Todd
G. F. J. Milford
Affiliation:
AFRC Institute of Arable Crops Research, Rothamsted Experimental Station, Harpenden, Herts AL5 2JQ, UK
A. Penny
Affiliation:
AFRC Institute of Arable Crops Research, Rothamsted Experimental Station, Harpenden, Herts AL5 2JQ, UK
R. D. Prew
Affiliation:
AFRC Institute of Arable Crops Research, Rothamsted Experimental Station, Harpenden, Herts AL5 2JQ, UK
R. J. Darby
Affiliation:
AFRC Institute of Arable Crops Research, Rothamsted Experimental Station, Harpenden, Herts AL5 2JQ, UK
A. D. Todd
Affiliation:
AFRC Institute of Arable Crops Research, Rothamsted Experimental Station, Harpenden, Herts AL5 2JQ, UK
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

Multifactorial experiments at Rothamsted Experimental Station in two contrasting seasons, 1985/86 and 1986/87, tested the effects of treatment combinations that varied the supply of nitrogen at important stages of crop development in autumn and spring on the grain yield and nitrogen content of September- and October-sown winter wheat. Treatments that altered the nitrogen supply in autumn were an application of winter fertilizer N and sowing the wheat after rape or oats, which left different amounts of residual N. These were combined with treatments which tested the effects of 200 kg N/ha in spring applied as early or late dressings and as single or divided dressings. The effect of applying an additional 50 kg N/ha in summer was also tested in 1985/86.

In both experiments, larger yields were obtained from sowing in September than in October. The September-sown wheat grew better over winter in 1986/87 than in 1985/86 but the early advantage in size and N uptake resulted in enhanced production of straw rather than grain. Residues of N from previous crops were smaller after oats than rape in both years. This difference in soil N did not affect the over-winter growth and N uptake of the October-sown wheats. Neither this difference in residual N nor an application of fertilizer N in winter affected the yield of the following September-sown wheat in 1985/86 because autumn growth and N uptake were restricted by adverse weather. In 1986/87, however, wheat that followed oats yielded 0·42 t/ha less grain than wheat that followed rape, and the deficit in yield was removed by an application of fertilizer N equivalent to the deficit in soil N.

Yields were decreased when the spring N was applied as a delayed, single dressing in April especially if the wheat was sown in September after oats, or was not given winter N. Yields were not affected by any of the other combinations of single v. divided dressings or early v. late applications of spring N, despite these being given at very different stages of apical development.

The percentage of N in the harvested grain was greatly increased by winter applications of fertilizer N, especially to wheat grown after oats, by applying the spring N as a late, single dressing and, in 1986, by applying N in summer.

Type
Crops and Soils
Information
The Journal of Agricultural Science , Volume 121 , Issue 1 , August 1993 , pp. 1 - 12
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1993

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Darby, R. J., Widdowson, F. V., Bird, E. & Hewitt, M. V. (1986). The relationship of soil mineral NO3-N with stem N03-N concentration, and of fertilizer-N with the amount of nitrogen taken up by winter wheat, in experiments testing nitrogen fertilizer in combination with aphicide and fungicides, from 1980 to 1982. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 106, 497–507.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kirby, E. J. M. & Appleyard, M. (1984). Cereal plant development – assessment and use. In The Nitrogen Requirement of Cereals ADAS/MAFF Reference Book 385, pp. 21–38. London: HMSO.Google Scholar
Prew, R. D., Church, B. M., Dewar, A. M., Lacey, J., Penny, A., Plumb, R. T., Thorne, G. N., Todd, A. D. & Williams, T. D. (1983). Effects of eight factors on the growth and nutrient uptake of winter wheat and on the incidence of pests and diseases. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 100, 363–382.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Prew, R. D., Beane, J., Carter, R., Church, B. M., Dewar, A. M., Lacey, J., Penny, A., Plumb, R. T., Thorne, G. N. & Todd, A. D. (1986). Some factors affecting the growth and yield of winter wheat grown as a third cereal with much or negligible take-all. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 107, 639–671.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thorne, G. N., Wood, D. W. & Stevenson, H. J. (1988). Effects of nitrogen supply and drought on early development of winter wheat in the field in Eastern England. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 110, 109–117.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tottman, D. R. (1987). The decimal code for the growth stages of cereals, with illustrations. Annals of Applied Biology 110, 441–454.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Williams, R. J. B. (1969). The repid determination of nitrate in crops, soils, drainage and rainwater by a simple field method using diphenylamine or diphenylbenzidine with glass fibre paper. Chemistry and Industry, 1969, pp. 1735–1736.Google Scholar