Nitrogen use Rationalization and Boosting Wheat Productivity by Applying Packages of Humic, Amino Acids, and Microorganisms
Hani Saber Saudy, Mohamed Fawzy Hamed, Wasfi Ramadan Abd El–Momen, Hossam Hussein
Abstract
Integrated management of soil organic matter and nutritional status of crop plants is essential to sustain the production of organic farming systems. Thus, a 2–year field experiment was conducted to examine the effects of soil additions (192 kg N ha–1, humic+192 kg N ha–1, humic+144 kg N ha–1 and humic+96 kg N ha–1) and foliar applications (amino acids, Azotobacter+yeast, and amino acids plus Azotobacter+yeast) as various fertilizer resources on growth and yield of wheat. Results showed that humic+192 kg N ha–1 × amino acids plus Azotobacter+yeast were the effective combination for producing the highest values of flag leaf area, total dry weight, tiller number m–2, spike weight m–2, and grain yield ha–1. Under foliar application of amino acids plus Azotobacter+yeast, reducing N supply from recommended rate (192 kg N ha–1) to 144 kg N ha–1+ humic achieved higher values of all yield traits, with a saving of 25% of applied mineral nitrogen as well as enhancing nitrogen use efficiency.