The mineral nutrition and especially that of nitrogen have a large impact on the yield of wheat depending on its potential capacity to respond to the nutrient. The basic objective of this work was to analyze the possibility of increasing yields through the nitrogen fertilization.||During 1985 and 1993, the response to N and the yield potential of different wheat varieties was evaluated at INIA-La Estanzuela. The response of the variety E Cardenal was always positive to the addition of N and it expressed highest yield potential under disease controlled environment. However, the magnitude of response was dependent on N proportioned by the soil and the climatic conditions. The type of response allowed identifying that factors other than N limited yield in some years while in others this nutrient was insufficient in spite of the application of a heavy doses (200 - 250 kg/ha), thereby, indicating the lower efficiency of the fertilization. On an average, the N recovery by the crop was 36%. All yield components were effected by the N and also by other growth factors to some extent. The parameter, grains per m2 correlated strongly with the yield to the extent that 19 000 grains per m2 reached the maximum yield potential of 7 tons/ha. The large variability in the yield potential (4 - 7 tons/ha) among different years comes from uncontrolled factors that impose barriers to the crop growth as well as to the absorption of the N. Possible factors that may have negatively effected the nutrient recuperation, including other nutritional deficiencies, environmental implications involved and the possibilities to increase the input efficiency through different fertilization strategies as well as the identification and control of other limiting factors are discussed.

Spanish

0105|AL-Wheat Program|AGRIS 0102

Jose Juan Caballero

CIMMYT Publications Collection