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Yield-Independent Variation in Grain Nitrogen and Phosphorus Concentration among Ethiopian Wheats

Dep. of Crop & Soil Sciences, Michigan State Univ., Plant and Soil Sciences Bldg., East Lansing, MI 48824-1325
Inst. of Plant Sci., ETH Zürich, Universtätstrasse 2, CH-8092 Zürich, Switzerland
Gesamthochschule Kassel, FB Internat. Agrarwirtschaft, Steinstrasse 19, D-37213 Witzenhausen, Germany

^* Corresponding author (schulthe{at}cps.msu.edu).

New semidwarf wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) cultivars and new land management practices for Vertisols are being introduced in Ethiopia. Our objectives were to (i) determine the variation of N and P content and concentration in the grain and whether these are related to grain yield, (ii) test cultivar response to different fertility levels, and (iii) assess componentraits of N and P yield. Five bread wheat cultivars and three durum wheat (Triticum durum Desf.) cultivars were sown in Exp. 1 at three locations in Ethiopia on two dates. In Exp. 2, seven of these cultivars were grown on a P-deficient soil at four N levels (0, 20.5, 41, 61.5 kg N ha^–1) and four P levels (0, 10, 20, 30 kg P ha^–1); in Exp. 3, two cultivars were grown in all possible combinations of the same four N and P levels. Grain yields did not differ among cultivars, but significant variations were found for total shoot N and P, grain N and P yield, and grain N and P concentration. Cultivar differences in these traits were fairly consistent across the treatments and were corroborated by Exp. 3. The N and P concentrations in the grain were not related to grain yield (r = 0.36 NS for N; r = 0.28 NS for P). There was a positive association between grain N and P concentrations in Exp. 1 (r = 0.66; P = 0.07) and in Exp. 2 (r = 0.92; P < 0.01). The N and P grain yields were related to total shoot N and P at maturity (r = 0.99; P < 0.001). However, postanthesis accumulation of N was more closely related to postanthesis dry matter accumulation (r = 0.84; P < 0.05) than to the postanthesis accumulation of P (r = 0.56 NS). Total shoot varied by as much as 50%. Thus, cultivar choice is an important factor determining removal of P from the soil.

Received for publication August 28, 1995.