The effect of nitrogen fertilizer on yield and yield components of sweet sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L.) under different irrigation regimes

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 .Sc. Student, Department of Agrotechnology, Faculty of Agriculture, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran

2 Professor, Department of Agrotechnology, Faculty of Agriculture, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran

3 Graduate Ph.D., Department of Agrotechnology, Faculty of Agriculture, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran

4 M. Sc. Graduate, Department of Agrotechnology, Faculty of Agriculture, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran

Abstract

Introduction
Drought is one of the primary limiting factors in the production of crops, particularly sweet sorghum. Drought stress negatively impacts various aspects of sweet sorghum growth by causing morphological, physiological, and biochemical changes, preventing the plant from achieving optimal yield. Additionally, in arid and semi-arid regions, sweet sorghum yield declines due to the lack of soil organic matter and nitrogen. Therefore, the application of nitrogen fertilizers is essential to address this issue. The objective of this study was to investigate the interaction of nitrogen and different irrigation regimes and determine the most appropriate nitrogen level and irrigation regime to achieve the highest yield of sweet sorghum.
 
Materials and methods
To investigate the effect of different irrigation regimes and nitrogen levels on the yield and yield components of sweet sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L. cv. ‘Pegah’), an experiment was conducted as a split-plot based on randomized complete block design with three replications in Qom, Iran. In this experiment, the irrigation regime and nitrogen fertilizer consisted of four and five levels, which were randomly assigned to the main- and sub-plots, respectively. The irrigation regimes included optimal irrigation, mild water deficit, moderate water deficit, and severe water deficit, applied respectively after the depletion of 30%, 45%, 60%, and 75% of the available soil water in the root zone, followed by irrigation up to field capacity. Nitrogen levels from urea fertilizer also included 0 (control), 50, 100, 150, and 200 kg.ha-1. The evaluated traits included plant height, panicle weight, 1000-grain weight, relative water content (RWC), leaf area index (LAI), crop growth rate (CGR), grain yield, dry forage yield, anthocyanin content, total chlorophyll content, and soluble sugar content.

Research findings
The results of this study showed that irrigation regimes and nitrogen levels had a significant effect on all evaluated traits, including leaf RWC, anthocyanin, soluble sugars, and total chlorophyll. The interaction of irrigation regims and nitrogen fertilizer levels was also significant for all traits except for RWC, CGR on the 30th day, and LAI. Reduced water and nitrogen levels led to a decrease in forage and grain yield, as well as yield components in sweet sorghum. Highest grain yield, 1000-grain weight, total chlorophyll content, and RWC were achieved with 150 kg.ha-1 of nitrogen and optimal irrigation, showing a significant difference compared to other nitrogen levels. The highest anthocyanin content was observed with 150 kg.ha-1 of nitrogen under moderate water stress, while the maximum soluble sugar content was recorded with 200 kg.ha-1 of nitrogen under severe water stress. Severe water stress resulted in an 87.77% reduction in grain yield compared to optimal irrigation. However, the application of 150 kg.ha-1 of nitrogen under severe water stress increased grain yield by 80.74%. These changes were also effective under other irrigation regimes, showing a significant improvement in plant yield.

Conclusion
The results of the current study showed that different irrigation regimes had varying effects on the evaluated traits, including yield and yield components of the Pegah variety of sweet sorghum. The results also indicated that the highest grain yield was obtained with the application of 150 kg.ha-1 urea under optimal irrigation, mild water stress, moderate water stress, and severe water stress, yielding 7390.93, 5698.40, 3782.94, and 938.23 kg.ha-1, respectively. Based on these findings, for improving the physiological and functional traits of the Pegah variety of sweet sorghum under stress or non-stress conditions, the application of 150 kg.ha-1 nitrogen is recommended.

Keywords

Main Subjects


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