Evaluation of Wheat Growth Under Different Fertilizer Type, Application and doses at Northern State of Sudan

Wheat is one of the most important strategic crops in terms of food security. The objective of the experiment was to measure growth parameters of wheat under different fertilizer regimes. The experiment was conducted at the Demonstration Farm of the Faculty of Agricultural Sciences, University of Dongola, Northern State, Sudan, during the successive growing seasons of 2008/2009 and 2009/2010. The experimental method applied was a split-split plot trial with four replications. The main plot composed of two methods of fertilizer application (broadcasting and localized placement) in randomized complete block design. Subplots consisted of four doses (0, 43, 86 and 129 kg/ha) of each of the two types of compound fertilizers {(Urea (46% N) + Triple super phosphate (46% P2O5)) and Nitrophoska (18:18:5)}. Growth parameters investigated included plant height, number of tillers per meter square, leaf area index, days to 50% heading and days to 95% maturity. In this study the general trend was that the increase in fertilizer dose significantly increased plant height, number of tillers per meter square, leaf area index, but there were no significant differences in days to heading and days to maturity which were not affected. Generally the results show that there were no significant differences in growth parameters between the fertilizer types and between the application methods.