Effects of Soil and Foliar Application of Zn Fertilizer on Yield and Growth Characteristics of Bread Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) Cultivars

In order to investigate role of zinc application (soil + foliar application) on growth traits, yield, its concentration and accumulation in wheat leaves and grains, two common cultivars of wheat namely Tajan and Nye 60 have been selected. Four zinc fertilizer levels including Zn0 (no zinc fertilizer), Zn1 (5 kg Zn ha-1 in soil + 300 g Zn ha-1 in foliar application), Zn2 (10 kg Zn ha-1 in soil + 600 g Zn ha-1 in foliar application) and Zn3 (15 kg ha-1 in soil + 900 g Zn ha-1 in foliar application) both from zinc sulfate source have been applied in planting and booting stage in soil and as foliar application. A pot experiment was conducted as a factorial design with 3 replications during 2005. Results showed that using zinc caused increasing effects on grain yield, total dry matter, yield, 1000 grain weight, number of tiller, grain zinc content, flag leaf zinc content, plant height, number of node, protein content and grain Fe content. Number of tiller, grain zinc content and percentage of protein were higher in Tajan cultivar than Nye 60. In other hands, Nye 60 had higher grain yield and 1000 grain weight than Tajan, however, other measured traits showed no significant difference.