Effect of different fertilizer forms on wheat yield and grain quality in the Gezira

This study was carried out during the cropping seasons 2004/2005 and 2005/2006 at the Gezira Research Farm, Wed Madani, Sudan. The study aimed to test the effect of added different fertilizer forms on wheat yield and grain quality. Soil of the testing site belongs to the Remeitab soil series, which is known for its high clay content, low total nitrogen, available phosphorus, micronutrients and organic matter, with a high pH and poor physical properties.The experiment was arranged in a randomized complete block design (RCBD) with four replications. Each replicate contained eight treatments. The test crop was wheat, cultivar Debeira. The tested fertilizers included urea (46% N), Ammonium sulphate nitrate (26% N +14% S), Triple super phosphate (46% P2O5 ), Diammonim phosphate (46% P2O5 + 18% N), and Nitrophoska (NPK 18: 18:5). Wheat grain yield for the different treatments was recorded. Plant samples were taken at physiological maturity for NPK analyses and quality assessment. All measured parameters were statistically analyzed .Results indicated that added fertilizer forms had a highly significant (p¡Ü 0.001) positive effect on grain yield, 1000-grain weight, number of grains per head, weight of grains per head, number of heads m2, plant height, biomass production, and NPK uptake compared to the control (ON). Differences in these traits among the different added fertilizer forms were not significant.The combination of urea plus nitrophoska gave the highest grain yield (2590 kg/ha), percent increase in grain yield over the standard practice treatment (2N Urea + 1 P TSP) and the control (ON) was 18 and 90 %, respectively. Result also indicated that the combination of urea and nitrophosa gave noticeably greater dry matter and nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium uptake when compared to those of the other treatments. The addition of the different fertilizer forms resulted in significant differences in protein percent, Particle Size Index, Fariongraph Development Time, Fariongraph Water Absoption, while there were no significant differences in Fariongraph Stability Time and Fariongraph Mixing Tolerance. The best quality parameters were observed when the combinations of urea plus NPK18 were applied. In contrast, the control (ON) had the poorest quality traits. Grain yield was positively correlated with all tested yield components i.e. plant height, number of spikelets / spike, number of grains / spike, No. Spikes/m2, weight of grains/spike, biomass and 1000 grains weight