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Radiation efficiency and nitrogen fertilizer impacts on sunflower crop in contrasting environments of Punjab, Pakistan

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Abstract

Sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) is the leading non-conventional oilseed crop in Pakistan. Nitrogen fertilizer can affect plant growth and productivity by changing canopy size which has an effect on the radiation use efficiency (RUE) of the crop. The response of sunflower hybrids in terms of phenology, fraction of intercepted radiation (F i), and RUE to nitrogenous rates (0, 60, 120, 180, and 240 kg ha−1) was studied in three field experiments conducted in three various environments: Multan (arid), Faisalabad (semi-arid), and Gujranwala (sub-humid) during spring seasons 2008 and 2009. The treatments were laid out according to a randomized complete block design with split plot arrangements, keeping the sunflower hybrids in main plots and nitrogen rates in sub-plots, and replicated three times. The results showed Hysun-38 took a maximum number of days to anthesis (101) as compared to Pioneer-64A93 (100) and Hysun-33 (99). The mean values of F i were 0.850, 0.903, and 0.978, and the estimated values of RUE for total aboveground dry matter were 2.14, 2.47, and 2.65 g MJ−1 at experimental locations of Multan, Faisalabad, and Gujranwala, respectively. The values of RUE for grain yield (RUEGY) were 0.78, 0.98, and 1.26 g MJ−1 at experimental locations of Multan, Faisalabad, and Gujranwala, respectively. The average RUEGY values over three locations were 2.61, 2.60, 2.43, and 2.36 g MJ−2 in N4 (180 kg ha−1), N5 (240 kg ha−1), N3 (120 kg ha−1), and N2 (60 kg ha−1) treatments, respectively. Increasing rates of N increased RUEGY over the standard treatment N3 (120 kg N ha−1); however, the averaged values over three locations were 1.22, 1.08, 0.99, and 0.92 g MJ−2 in N4, N5, N3, and N2 treatments, respectively. Therefore, optimum water and N doses are important for attaining higher RUE, which may enhance sunflower growth and yield.

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Funding

The first author is highly thankful to the Pakistan Science Foundation (PSF) for the partial funding to present this work in a second International Balkan Agriculture Congress at the Namik Kemal University, Tekirdağ, Turkey (2017). Moreover, the first author is also appreciative to the Endowment Fund Secretariat, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, Pakistan, which was highly acknowledged for the partial financial support of this study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Environmental Sciences, COMSATS Institute of Information Technology (CIIT), Vehari, Pakistan

    Wajid Nasim, Asad Amin, Ghulam Mustafa Shah, Syeda Refat Sultana & Hafiz Mohkum Hammad

  2. CIHEAM-Institut Agronomique Mediterraneen de Montpellier (IAMM), Montpellier, France

    Wajid Nasim

  3. CSIRO Sustainable Ecosystems, National Research Flagship, Toowoomba, QLD, 4350, Australia

    Wajid Nasim

  4. US-Pakistan Center for Advanced Studies in Agriculture and Food Security (USPCAS-AFS), University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, 38040, Pakistan

    Ashfaq Ahmad

  5. Agronomy Section, Central Cotton Research Institute (CCRI), Multan, Pakistan

    Muhammad Tariq

  6. Department of Agronomy, University College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences, The Islamia University of Bahawalpur Pakistan, Bahawalpur, Pakistan

    Muhammad Awais & Muhammad Saqib

  7. Department of Plant Protection, Faculty of Agriculture and Natural Sciences, Düzce University, Düzce, Turkey

    Khawar Jabran

  8. Department of Agronomy, Ghazi University, Dera Ghazi Khan, Pakistan

    Muhammad Ishaq Asif Rehmani

  9. Department of Meteorology, COMSATS Institute of Information Technology, Islamabad, Pakistan

    Muhammad Zaffar Hashmi

  10. Department of Agronomy, MNS University of Agriculture, Multan, Pakistan

    Muhammad Habib ur Rahman

  11. Department of Soil Science and Plant Nutrition, Division of Soil Microbiology, Faculty of Agriculture, Bingöl University, Bingöl, Turkey

    Veysel Turan

  12. College of Plant Science and Technology, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, Hubei, China

    Shah Fahad

  13. Department of Agriculture, University of Swabi, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan

    Shah Fahad

  14. College of Horticulture, Northeast Agricultural University Harbin, Harbin, Heilongjiang, 150030, China

    Shah Suad

  15. Key Laboratory of Plant Genetic and Breeding, College of Agriculture, Guangxi University, Nanning, China

    Aziz Khan

  16. The Chinese Institute of Water-saving Agriculture, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Shaanxi, China

    Shahzad Ali

Authors
  1. Wajid Nasim
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  2. Ashfaq Ahmad
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  3. Asad Amin
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  4. Muhammad Tariq
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  5. Muhammad Awais
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  6. Muhammad Saqib
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  7. Khawar Jabran
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  8. Ghulam Mustafa Shah
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  9. Syeda Refat Sultana
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  10. Hafiz Mohkum Hammad
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  11. Muhammad Ishaq Asif Rehmani
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  14. Veysel Turan
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  15. Shah Fahad
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  16. Shah Suad
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  17. Aziz Khan
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  18. Shahzad Ali
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Contributions

WN and AA initiated and designed the research. WN performed the experiments. AA, MI, and MA analyzed the data and wrote the manuscript. MS, AW, MM, SRS, GMS, HMH, AH, MMM, KJ, MZH, MHR, VT, SF, MT, SK, NK, SS, AK, and SA revised and edited the manuscript and also provided advice on the experiments.

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Correspondence to Wajid Nasim or Shah Fahad.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Responsible editor: Philippe Garrigues

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Nasim, W., Ahmad, A., Amin, A. et al. Radiation efficiency and nitrogen fertilizer impacts on sunflower crop in contrasting environments of Punjab, Pakistan. Environ Sci Pollut Res 25, 1822–1836 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-017-0592-z

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