Effect of Foliar Application of Urea Fertilizer and Post Emergence Herbicide on Performances of Wheat (Triticumaestivum L.) at Ardaita, Arsi Zone, Oromia, Ethiopia

Abstract

Wheat is largely grown in the highlands of Ethiopia. However, its productivity is very low due to plant nutrients limitations in the soil and weed infestation and low use of external inputs such as fertilizers and pesticides. Thus, the study was conducted in 2015/16 main cropping season under Ethiopian Seed Enterprise in Ardaita Seed Farm to evaluate the effect of foliar application of urea fertilizer and post emergence herbicide on performances of bread wheat. The experiment constituted seven treatments which were arranged in a randomized complete block design (RCBD) with three replications. Urea fertilizer were sprayed as a foliar combined with post emergence herbicide (Pallas 45OD) at different rates (10, 20, 30, 40 and 50 kg ha -1 ), 50 kg ha -1 urea fertilizer was sprayed foliarly with pure water/without any post emergence herbicide (weedy check for comparison) and the control treatment was applied with only 50 kg ha -1 granular urea at sowing on soil and post emergence herbicide Pallas 45OD 0.5 lt ha -1 . The parameters recorded on the crop were grouped into agronomic and yield performances of wheat and weed components. The results of the experiment indicated that, there were significant differences for non-fertile tillers, number of spikes m -2 , biological yield, grain yield, harvest index, straw yield, fertile tiller and grain per spike, but plant height and thousand grain yield showed non-significant difference. This, study showed that combined application of urea fertilizer and Pallas had a significant effect on most agronomic and yield parameters. However, for most weed and weed component parameters the result did not show significant difference, except pre and post application weed density, pre and post emergence weed control efficiency, and grass and broad leave weeds dry weight. The result of the experiment were shown that more number of grain per spike (37) and higher yield (50 qt ht -1 ) were recorded in plots treated with 40 kg ha -1 urea along 0.5 lt ha -1 Pallas. Higher biological yield was also recorded from plants treated with 40 kg ha -1 urea along 0.5 lt ha -1 Pallas. The plants treated with 40 and 30 kg ha -1 urea along 0.5 lt ha -1 Pallas was also shown the best economic returns. Thus, it could be concluded that the combined application of 40 kg ha -1 urea and 0.5 lt ha -1 Pallas significantly increases the wheat production in the study areas and the like. This experiment also needs to be repeatedly tested in order to clearly understand and confirm the right nitrogen fertilizer rate, concentration and application time of urea fertilizer and post emergence herbicide for the better performances of wheat under different varieties of the crop in different areas.