The effect of sulphur and nitrogen fertilization on grain yield and technological quality of spring wheat

Abstract

The aim of the study was to evaluate the effect of nitrogen (N) and sulphur (S) fertilizer on grain yield of spring wheat and its technological quality. A field experiment (2009-2011) was conducted in south-eastern Poland on Cambisols. The experiment included 2 factors: N fertilization (0, 40, 80, 120 kg/ha) and S fertilization (0, 50 kg/ha). The experiment showed that spring wheat cv. Tybalt exhibited a positive reaction of N and S fertilization on grain yield, which was the highest at the application of 80 kg N/ha (5.40 t/ha), increasing by 1.30 t/ha (13.1%) with re-spect to the control. S fertilization increased grain yield by 3.58%. S application increased significantly the content of gluten by 3.2%, cysteine by 6.0% and methionine by 16.5%. The most beneficial effect on the content of N, S, total protein, gluten, cysteine and methionine was observed for N application a rate of 80 kg/ha and for S at a rate of 50 kg/ha. Positive correlation was found between the content of S in grain and grain yield (r = 0.73). Significant correlations were found also between grain yield and all other quality characteristics except for N and starch content.