Crop yield and grain quality of emmer populations grown in central Italy, as affected by nitrogen fertilization

The increasing demand for traditional and natural foods has renewed the interest in hulled wheat species. Among these, Triticum dicoccum Schübler has survived in Italy only in a few hilly and mountainous areas of central and southern Italy. As a rule, emmer is cultivated in marginal areas with organic farming procedures that use very low N inputs, since this wild species is characterised by low yield, long and weak culms that easily lodge under windy conditions. Unfortunately, there is a lack of information on crop productivity and N effect for this crop. Research was carried out to study the effect of cultivation year (2004 and 2005), plant origin (Garfagnana, Leonessa and Molise) and N dressing (N₀, N₃₀, N₆₀ and N₉₀ kgha⁻¹) on crop yield and grain quality of emmer grown in south-central Italy. Fertilizer was split at seeding, tillering and stem elongation. Tested parameters were highly influenced either by crop origin or N application (biomass, hulled and threshed grain yield, spikesm⁻², spikelets per spike, kernel weight, plant height, lodging, kernel ash and proteins). Several parameters augmented as fertilization rate increased (hulled and unhulled grain yield, biomass accumulation, spikesm⁻², kernelsm⁻², protein content); 1000-kernel weight showed an opposite trend and in some cases no differences were noticed among fertilized treatments (plant height and spikelets per spike). Molise was the most productive population, closely followed by Garfagnana. The present research rejected some common belief that emmer has to be grown without N dressing, and crop undergoes lodging in marginal mountainous areas. Besides, grain yield of N₉₀ and N₆₀ treated emmer was only 6 and 18% lower compared to the five most important durum wheat varieties cultivated in the same area, suggesting emmer as a possible alternative crop to durum wheat in marginal areas of Mediterranean-type agro-ecosystems.