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Nitrogen Uptake and Utilization Efficiency of Malting Barley as Influenced by Variety and Nitrogen Level

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Abstract

Nitrogen (N) is the primary driver of crop production and it is heavily used in modern agriculture to maximize yield. However, the effectiveness with which N is used by cereals has become increasingly important because of both financial and environmental costs to N fertilization. The aims of this study were to determine the effects of N fertilization rate, variety, and growing season on grain yield, N uptake, and N-efficiency traits of malting barley at Bekoji, southeastern Ethiopia. The treatments studied were five N levels (0, 23, 46, 69, and 92 kg ha-1) and two malting barley varieties (Miscal-21 and Holker) over three seasons (2012, 2013, and 2014). The results showed that as N rates increased, malting barley grain yield, grain, straw, and total N uptakes increased, but N-harvest index, N-use efficiency, N-recovery efficiency, and N-utilization efficiency decreased. Grain yield, grain, and total N uptake, N-harvest index, N-use efficiency, N-recovery efficiency, and N-utilization efficiency were greater in Miscal-21, whilst straw N uptake were greater in Holker. Grain yield, grain, straw, and total N uptake, N-recovery efficiency, and N-harvest index were greater in 2012 than in 2013 and 2014, but growing season had no effect on N-use efficiency and N-utilization efficiency. Grain yield was positively correlated with N-efficiency traits, but the role of N-recovery efficiency in enhancing grain yield was larger than the role of N-utilization efficiency.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Arsi University, College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences, P O Box 193, Asella, Ethiopia

    Meharie Kassie

  2. International Wheat and Maize improvement Center (CIMMYT), Addis Aababa, Ethiopia

    Kindie Fanataye

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  1. Meharie Kassie
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  2. Kindie Fanataye
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Correspondence to Meharie Kassie.

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Kassie, M., Fanataye, K. Nitrogen Uptake and Utilization Efficiency of Malting Barley as Influenced by Variety and Nitrogen Level. J. Crop Sci. Biotechnol. 22, 65–73 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12892-019-0004-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12892-019-0004-0

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