Heavy weed infestations are reportedly dependent on flood irrigation and broadcast application of fertilizers. The main objectives of this study were to control weeds and save precious irrigation water by controlled irrigation, placement nitrogen fertilizer and seed priming in wheat. Experiments were conducted at three ecological zones of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan during 2017-19 with Randomized Complete Block design. Three levels of urea (46% N) with broadcast and placement demonstrated against three irrigations (Management Allowed Depletion Technique-MAD). Wheat seed priming was imposed to maintain uniformity of the experiments in terms of emergence and uniform stand establishment. Highest weeds infestations were correlated with broadcast 120 kg urea ha− 1 under 60% MAD irrigation. And lowest weeds were observed for placement 60 kg urea ha− 1 under 70% MAD irrigation. It was concluded that placement 90 kg urea ha− 1 with 70% MAD irrigation alongside with priming technique (hydro priming and osmo-priming with PEG) enhanced yield of wheat and increased water and nitrogen use efficiencies. These finding could be further utilized for developing computer simulated models for irrigation and fertilizers in wheat.
Research Article
Integrated weeds control through seed priming, irrigation and nitrogen in wheat under saline conditions
https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-4725541/v1
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Water
fertilizer
Weeds
soil types
cereals
precision agriculture
Wheat (Triticum aestivum) is greatly influenced by application methods of nitrogen fertilizer, weed infestations and improper irrigation (Salem et al. 2022). Urea (46% nitrogen) is applied through broadcast while flood irrigation is provided at different growth stages and it leads to wastage of these two precious inputs. In flood irrigation wheat crop may account delay in transition amongst subsequent growth stages due to presence of excess water in field conditions. Islam et al. (2018) have suggested detrimental irrigation impacts on yield parameters of wheat. Moreover, this excess water leads to weed infestations (Saudy and El-Metwally 2019; El-Metwally et al. 2022; Saudy and El-Metwally 2023). Potential wheat yield is decreased by weeds infestations due to sharp competition and allowance of space for insects and diseases. Ghafoor and Sadiq (1991) obtained 29 and 30% reduction in wheat grain yield due to weeds. Similarly also reported 23–30% reduction in grain yield of wheat due to presence of weeds (Ibrahim et al. 1991)Wheat could be improved for high yield parameters through integrated weeds control by appropriate fertilizer and irrigation application(El-Metwally and Saudy 2021; Saudy et al. 2021a).
Feeding crop plants with various essential nutrients is the corner bone to keep the crop growth and yield under normal or stressed conditions (Saudy et al. 2020b; Abd El-Mageed et al. 2022; Saudy et al. 2022; Shaaban et al. 2023). Nitrogen nutrition has proven effects on wheat yield as suggest by many researchers around the globe. Bojović and Marković (2009) concluded that soil fertilized is better than unfertilized soil. Accordingly, nitrogen content had close link with chlorophyll content, hence the crop productivity (Saudy et al. 2020b; Abou El-Enin et al. 2023). Nitrogen improvements are correlated with grain N content and yield (Saudy et al. 2018). Efficient nitrogen nutrition can overcome water deficiencies and enhance crop qualities in deficit irrigation (Ramadan et al., 2018; Abd–Elrahman et al. 2022). Nitrogen importance is well established in agriculture. However, its application method has seldom given importance in wheat crop especially for weeds suppression.
Seed priming can alleviate salinity stress during seed emergence and subsequent growth stages. As reported that seed priming mitigated the negative impacts of salinity (Feghhenabi et al., 2020). Salinity is one of a major threat in harvesting good wheat stand on sustained basis. Seed priming treatments substantially improved wheat stand establishment and yield parameters (Jafar et al., 2011). Seed priming improved field performance of poor quality wheat seeds and enhanced yield parameters (Hussain et al., 2013). Nevertheless, seed priming was intermingled during these experiments to gain uniform wheat stand establishment for the weed suppression and to quantify genuine methods of fertilizer and irrigation approaches.
Experiments were conducted at three Districts; Charsadda, Swabi and Kohat, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. Location coordinates, mean annual rainfall, high/low temperature during summer/winter and soil type are presented in Table 1.
|
Location |
North latitudes |
East longitudes |
rainfall |
Summer High/Low Temperature (°C) |
Winter High/Low Temperature (°C) |
Sand |
Silt |
Clay |
Soil Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Charsadda |
34 − 03' and 34–38' |
71 − 28' and 71 − 53' |
132 mm |
41/ 26 |
19/ 5 |
52.4 |
43 |
4.6 |
Sandy loam |
|
Swabi |
34° 7′ 0 |
72° 28′ 0 |
639 mm |
39.5/27.5 |
18/5 |
30.31 |
43.93 |
26.22 |
loam |
|
Kohat |
32° 47' and 33° 53' |
70° 34' and 72° 17' |
303 mm |
38.1/28.7 |
15.6/7.4 |
29.58 |
37.42 |
33 |
Clay loam |
|
Location |
pH |
Total Available Water (%) |
|||||||
|
Charsadda |
7.60 |
20 |
|||||||
|
Swabi |
7.58 |
32 |
|||||||
|
Kohat |
7.92 |
18 |
Land Preparation
The field was thoroughly prepared with mould board plough and soil cutter to loosen hard debris with special emphasis on field leveling.
Treatment Application
For the experimental purpose wheat variety Pirsabak 2015 studied during 2017-19. Experiments were planted according to Randomized Complete Block Design having three replications to evaluate seed priming [Control-dry seed, Hydro priming (HP) and Poly ethylene Glycol (PEG) with 100 gm L− 1 of water (PEG)], nitrogen managements [60, 90, 120 Kg urea ha− 1 as broadcast (BC) and placement method (PM)] and irrigation with 60, 70 and 80% Management Allowed Depletion (MAD).
Seed Priming
Seed priming was achieved with tap water for hydro priming and 100 g Poly Ethylene Glycol (PEG) per liter of water for 24 hours at room temperature for osmo priming. After priming; seeds were placed under shade to firmly dry out excess water before sowing. Dry seed was used as control (no seed priming).
Urea application
Urea (CH4N2O) is a nitrogenous fertilizer and contains 46% nitrogen. It was applied both as broadcast (BC) and placement method (PM). PM was applied in rows during sowing and at first irrigation in two split dozes. In BC the urea was applied to the entire field as broadcast in two split dozes at sowing and at first irrigation.
Irrigation application
Irrigation was applied with management allowed depletion (MAD) i.e. 60, 70 and 80% at tillers (jointing), heading and milky stages of wheat with field depths of 30, 70 and 100 cm respectively. Discharge of water was calculated with the help of following formulae and methods:
A = Average Area of stream
L = Length of stream
C = Coefficient (For rocky = 0.08, for muddy = 0.09)
T = Average time
AW = Available water
Drz = Depth of root zone
FC = Field capacity
WP = Wilting point
Irrigation water applied to a plot of experimental field was calculated through the following formula:
Management allowed depletion (MAD) was implemented according to soil type, saturated and wilting point of soil, rainfall, humidity, discharge of water and stage of crop (crop factor). For this purpose, the respective sites` soil field capacity and wilting point were taken for measurements of MAD. Soil moisture content measured before application of 60, 70 and 80% MAD irrigation. Table 2 illustrates only one site for amount of irrigation application. Other locations were managed accordingly.
Table 2 Application of irrigation quantity of water at District Charsadda during 2017-18.
|
MAD (%) |
For 30 cm depth |
For 70 cm depth |
For 100 cm depth |
|
M3 per hectare |
|||
|
60 |
240 |
560 |
800 |
|
70 |
180 |
420 |
600 |
|
80 |
120 |
280 |
400 |
Weed classification at Different Districts
Khan et al (2018) found 40 weed species belonging to 21 families at District Charsadda, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. They were comprised of Asteraceae, Fabaceae, Poaceae Ranunculaceae, annual and perennial herbs, annual grass, climbing herb, parasitic weed, and rhizomatic grass.
Anwar et al (2022) discovered 90 weed species at Swabi, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. They included dicots, monocots, Fabaceae, Asteraceae, Poaceae, Brassicaceae, Caryophyllaceae, Polygonaceae, Annuals and perennials species.
Begum and Ahmad (2018) assessed 60 weed species belonging to 23 families at Kohat, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. They were included of Poaceae, Asteraceae, Amaranthaceae, Brassicaceae, Chenopodiaceae, Euphorbiaceae, Pappilionaceae, Convulvolaceae, Caryophyllaceae, Apiaceae, Alliaceae, Caesalpiniaceae, Canabaceae, Cyperaceae, Fumariaceae, Gentianaceae, Illecebraceae, Papaveraceae, Polygonaceae, Primulaceae, Rosaceae, Rubiaceae and Tilliaceae.
Phenological Parameters
Days to emergence, heading and maturity were counted from date of sowing until 80% emergence, heading and maturity.
Weeds fresh and dry weight at tillering and heading (WFW1, WDW1 and WFW2, WDW2) (g m − 2 )
Weeds were collected at tillering and heading stages of wheat from 0.3 m2 in each plot and weighed on electronic balance to obtain weeds fresh weight (WFW). These samples of weeds were dried at 70oC for 24 hours in dry oven to calculate weeds dry weight (WDW).
Statistical Analysis
Data was statistically analyzed using Pearson computer software MStatC. Means found significantly different were compared using Least Significant Difference (LSD) test at 5% level of probability (Steel and Torrie, 1980).
Phenological parameters
Seed vigor, viability and transformation into full plant are essential for optimum plant population and yield. Phenological stages of wheat were greatly affected by the application methods of urea fertilizer. Placement 90 kg urea ha− 1 promoted fastest emergence, heading and maturity as compared with broadcast application (Fig. 1,2,5 and Table 2,3). For MAD irrigations lesser days to heading and maturity were observed with 70% MAD compared to enhanced days of 60% MAD. It took less days to emergence, heading, and maturity for hydro and osmo-priming (with PEG)when compared to control (no seed priming) that explored elevated days for the wheat phenology. For interaction of MAD irrigation vs. seed priming (MxP) fewer days to maturity were observed for osmo-priming with PEG under 70% MAD irrigation.
To attain potential yield, phenological stages are essential in wheat to complete in due time period. Any enhancement between growth stages will lead to ultimate reduction in potential yield. Agronomic practices like seed priming and nitrogen managements with quantity and application methods were found useful strategies during the experiments. As early emergence, heading and maturity were obtained specifically with seed priming either hydro or Poly Ethylene Glycol. Furthermore, placement application of nitrogen also improved phenology of wheat. Abdulrehman et al. (2008) improved emergence with seed priming. Hossain et al. (2006) also concluded that higher nitrogen rates enhanced vegetative growth and delayed maturity of wheat. Similarly Bakht et al. (2010) noted improvement in early crop establishment with nitrogen application. Therefore, placement application of nitrogen with 70% MAD irrigation, in our experiment, were the best method for improvement in phenology of wheat compared to broadcast application of nitrogen with higher (60% MAD) or lower (80% MAD) irrigation..
Integrated weed control
For nitrogen management, maximum weeds fresh weight (WFW) and weeds dry weight (WDW) at tillering and at heading stages of wheat were obtained for 120 kg urea ha− 1 with broadcast. These weeds parameters were least for 60 kg urea ha− 1 with placement application.
Elevated WFW and WDW at tillering and heading were recorded for 60% MAD irrigation. Reduction in quantity of water applied through irrigation resulted in suppression of weeds as least weeds weight was produced with 70 and 80% MAD at tillering and heading stages of wheat. In fact, cyperous rotandous and cyperous esculantous were more affected by lowering quantity of water through irrigations. Highest WFW and WDW were recorded for control (no seed priming) opposed to the least weeds recorded for either osmo or hydro seed priming at tillering and heading stages (Fig. 1,2,5 and Table 2,3).
For interaction of studied factors, highest WFW and WDW were recorded for control (no seed priming) with 60% MAD under broadcast 120 kg urea ha− 1. These weed parameters were lowest either for osmo (PEG) or hydro seed priming with 70 and 80% MAD under placement 60 kg urea ha− 1.
It was the greatest achievement during the experiments to explore proportionality of weeds infestations with method and rates of nitrogen application followed by controlled irrigation. Excess irrigation and nitrogen leads to weed infestation in wheat. It was specifically correlated with method of application i.e. broadcast vs. placement nitrogen and flood vs. controlled irrigation. In broadcast application; the nitrogen is unequally dispersed in open spaces between rows. As fields are occupied by several types of weed species and most of them are efficient users of water and nutrients (Saudy et al. 2021b). Amongst many integrated control of weeds; the wise use of irrigation water and nitrogen fertilizers could be the easy alternatives to be adopted. These results are confirmed by Muhammadi et al. (2012) who suggested that all levels of nitrogen applied increased height of wild oat more than wheat. In our experiments, it is evident that placement application of nitrogen comparatively supported lowest weeds infestation then broadcast nitrogen application. Same trend was also observed for 70% MAD irrigation that only nourished minimum weed infestations in comparison to 60 and 80% MAD irrigation.
Biological yield and Harvest Index
Wheat biological yield and harvest index are correlated with efficient agronomic practices of seed priming, irrigation and fertilizers. It was evident from the data of the project that highest biological yield and harvest index were attained for including interactions of seed priming (either osmo or hydro priming), 70% MAD and 90 kg urea ha-1 with placement (Fig. 1,2,3,4,5 and Table 3).Reduction in application of irrigation (80% MAD) and no seed priming (control) were responsible for producing lowest biological yield and harvest index. Irrigation application with 60% MAD was found to have detrimental effects on transitional growth stages of wheat and therefore, medium increase in biological yield and harvest indices were noted compared to 70% MAD irrigation. In this context, supplying crop plants with irrigation water less than normal resulted in disturbance in physiological balance (Mubarak et al. 2021;Salem et al. 2021; Saudy et al. 2023).Similarly, application of 60, 90 and 120 kg urea ha-1as broadcast and placement had significant differences in them in terms of biological yield and harvest indices. Lowest biological yield and harvest index were recorded respectively for 60 and 120kg urea ha-1 specifically with broadcast application. However, highest biological yield and harvest index recorded both with 90 kg urea ha-1 specifically with placement application.
Bagheri et al., (2019) observed variation for biological yield in wheat with different priming management. Weed infestation was controlled with these techniques as well. Hydro priming was economical compared to Poly ethylene glycol seed priming and enhancing yield components of wheat. Land leveling must be implemented as common practice in wheat production areas. Same observations were also reported by Yousafi et al., (2019).
| Parameters | Control | Hydro priming | PEG priming | LSD (P < 0.05) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MAD% | MAD% | MAD% | ||||||||
| 60 | 70 | 80 | 60 | 70 | 80 | 60 | 70 | 80 | ||
| DM | 166.0a | 158.7e | 162.1b | 162.4b | 152.7f | 160.6d | 161.9bc | 151.6g | 161.2cd | 0.78 |
| WFW2 | 166.6a | 161.8a | 153.3b | 124.2d | 115.4e | 108.9e | 138.2c | 131.6c | 135.2c | 6.67 |
| BY | 9204f | 9379e | 8845g | 9538d | 10446b | 8885g | 9861c | 10727a | 9125f | 143.2 |
| MAD% | Method | Urea (kg/ha) | DH | DM | WFW1 | WDW1 | WFW2 | WDW2 | BY | HI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 60 | Broadcast | 60 | 119.0c-e | 170.1a | 96.1c | 55.5c | 168.4c | 57.7c | 8707k | 29.8fg |
| 90 | 118.7d-e | 166.3b | 110.2b | 66.6b | 192.5b | 70.1b | 9067j | 29.6fg | ||
| 120 | 117.5f-g | 164.3c | 120.6a | 75.0a | 206.9a | 79.4a | 9426gh | 29.24g | ||
| Placement | 60 | 116.0f-i | 162.8d | 67.5f-i | 37.7gh | 117.6j | 38.4jk | 9749f | 29.24g | |
| 90 | 115.4i-l | 158.2e-f | 75.1df | 44.8ef | 132.5f-h | 46.4f-h | 10181cd | 29.91f | ||
| 120 | 114.9k-l | 158.8e-f | 82.5d | 51.2cd | 145.7de | 53.0c-e | 10075de | 29.7fg | ||
| 70 | Broadcast | 60 | 117.8e-f | 162.0d | 63.8hj | 40.7fg | 116.1j | 37.4k | 9284hi | 30.5e |
| 90 | 117.5e-f | 157.8f | 69.7e-i | 44.6ef | 128.1hi | 44.5g-i | 9563fg | 30.98b-e | ||
| 120 | 115.6h-k | 156.3g | 75.0df | 48.4de | 140.0ef | 50.8d-f | 9963e | 30.97c-e | ||
| Placement | 60 | 114.5k-m | 153.4h | 52.1k | 32.0hi | 93.3l | 29.7l | 10324c | 31.5a-c | |
| 90 | 111.9p | 147.1j | 56.3jk | 35.7g-i | 104.3k | 35.4kl | 11215a | 31.86a | ||
| 120 | 114.6k-l | 149.3i | 62.3ij | 40.1fg | 115.2j | 41.1h-k | 10755b | 31.55ab | ||
| 80 | Broadcast | 60 | 119.4cd | 170.2a | 72.5eg | 35.0g-i | 129.9gh | 43.6g-j | 8167m | 31.07b-e |
| 90 | 117.7ef | 166.3b | 76.6de | 37.7gh | 139.5ef | 48.8e-g | 8480l | 31.09b-d | ||
| 120 | 116.6f-h | 162.2d | 82.0d | 41.2fg | 150.9d | 55.0cd | 8852k | 30.69de | ||
| Placement | 60 | 116.9f-h | 159.0e | 66.6g-i | 30.0i | 120.1ij | 39.4i-k | 9125ij | 30.71de | |
| 90 | 114.0l-o | 153.9h | 71.3eh | 33.1hi | 130.6f-h | 44.9f-i | 9673f | 30.99b-e | ||
| 120 | 115.5h-k | 156.4g | 75.4df | 36.7gh | 138.8e-g | 49.2d-g | 9415gh | 30.58de | ||
| LSD (P < 0.05) | 1.06 | 1.09 | 7.95 | 6.43 | 9.44 | 5.89 | 202.50 | 0.57 |
|
S. O. V |
D.F |
M.S for Days to Emergence |
M.S for days to heading |
M.S for days to maturity |
M.S for biological yield (kg ha− 1) |
M.S for Harvest Index (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Year (Y) |
1 |
45.37** |
2358.23** |
1256.20** |
5155620** |
64.67** |
|
Location (Y) |
4 |
6.56** |
60.59** |
191.99** |
9502812** |
32.62** |
|
R(LY) |
12 |
3.89** |
8.69* |
34.16** |
663903** |
2.39* |
|
Moisture (M) |
2 |
5.67* |
243.79** |
7327.12** |
123081694** |
237.03** |
|
YxM |
2 |
4.30* |
384.89** |
0.43* |
1974043** |
14.64** |
|
LM(Y) |
8 |
4.34** |
72.46** |
298.39** |
1506800** |
19.93** |
|
Priming (P) |
2 |
1373** |
6698.10** |
1595.56** |
48034316** |
32.81** |
|
YxP |
2 |
11.48** |
651** |
42.35** |
1476552** |
0.87* |
|
LP(Y) |
8 |
9.13** |
53.39** |
63.11** |
1073270** |
11.92** |
|
MxP |
4 |
3.58* |
5.23* |
287.93** |
10344173** |
1.11* |
|
YxMxP |
4 |
6.22** |
9.37* |
25.86** |
295618* |
2.61* |
|
LxMxP(Y) |
16 |
3.37* |
27.15** |
59.20** |
1102707** |
12.16** |
|
Nitrogen (N) |
5 |
24.39** |
555.96** |
4707.20** |
62815091** |
7.04** |
|
YxN |
5 |
0.73* |
63.87** |
2.03* |
617497* |
1.86* |
|
LN(Y) |
20 |
1.00* |
26.03** |
13.81** |
120387* |
1.79* |
|
MxN |
10 |
1.71* |
25.32** |
54.59** |
665771** |
6.76** |
|
YxMxN |
10 |
1.18* |
23.12** |
5.61* |
140399* |
1.42* |
|
LxMxN(Y) |
40 |
1.65* |
22.25** |
15.63** |
158693* |
1.73* |
|
PxN |
10 |
2.87* |
57.86** |
37.75** |
534128** |
4.30** |
|
YxPxN |
10 |
2.44* |
14.76* |
3.53* |
57993* |
1.09* |
|
LxPxN(Y) |
40 |
1.42* |
14.36** |
10.87* |
108306* |
1.69* |
|
MxPxN |
20 |
2.76* |
38.08** |
20.03** |
238248* |
3.96** |
|
YxMxPxN |
20 |
1.69* |
19.93** |
13.58* |
109575* |
1.45* |
|
LxMxPxC(Y) |
80 |
1.57* |
19.89** |
8.73* |
104269* |
1.85* |
|
Error |
636 |
2.04* |
7.94 |
8.45 |
287083 |
2.28 |
|
Total |
971 |
Coefficient of Variation (%) |
||||
|
13.08 |
2.42 |
1.82 |
5.61 |
4.94 |
||
| ** = Significant at 5% level of probability | ||||||
| * = Non significant | ||||||
Application of irrigation with 70% MAD, placement application of 90 kg urea ha− 1 and seed priming (osmo-priming with PEG or hydro priming) remained best options for saving precious water and nitrogen nutrition and for obtaining potential yield parameters of wheat.
Conflict of Interest
Z. Hussain,, R. Amin, W. A. Shah, M. Ahmad, I. Alam, R. Khan, S.M. Rasheed, A. Sher, A. Jan declare that they have no competing interests.
Funding
Authors extend their appreciation to PARC, CIMMYT and USAID to support this research work.
Author Contribution
Zahid Hussain and Roohul Amin developed the idea and wrote the main manuscript.Wajid Ali Shah, Manzoor Ahmad, Iftikhar Alam and Rahamdad Khan performed statistical analysis, organized tables 1-5, and prepared figures 1-5.Syed Majid Rasheed, Ali Sher and Attaullah Jan revised the manuscript and formatted it according to journal guidelines.
Acknowledgement
Authors extend their appreciation to Pakistan Agricultural Research Council (PARC), Islamabad, International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and USAID-Pakistan for supporting this research work under Agricultural Innovation Program (AIP) during 2017-19. Authors are also highly indebted Bacha Khan University, Charsadda, Pakistan for providing facilities to accomplish the project.
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No competing interests reported.