Investigation of yield and yield components of wheat in response to reduced nitrogen fertilizer and seed consumption under sustainable agriculture conditions

To investigate yield and yield components of wheat in response to reduced nitrogen fertilizer and seed consumption under sustainable agriculture conditions, an experiment was carried out as split plot factorial based on randomized complete block design with four replications in Dezfol Agricultural Researc Center, Dezfol, Iran, in 2011-2012. Two wheat cultivars (Chamran and Behrang) in main plots and five levels of seed density (50, 100, 150, 200 and 250 kg.ha-1) together with six levels of nitrogen fertilizer from urea source (0, 50, 100, 150, 200 and 250 kg.ha-1) as factorial in sub-plots were considered. The result of analysis of variance showed that the effects of cultivar, nitrogen fertilizer and seed density were significant on grain yield and yield components at 1% probability level. Chamran with the average grain yield of 4130.70 kg./ha-1 was significantly higher than Behrang. Seed consumption more than 100 kg.ha-1 was reduced grain yield and the highest grain yield with the average of 4975 kg.ha-1 was obtained from seed density of 100 kg.ha-1. In contrast, increasing nitrogen fertilizer up to 150 kg.ha-1 significantly increased grain yield and then there was no significant change.