Effect of fertilizer dose on the performance of spring cereals

In country like Pakistan where population is growing at an alarming rate, food shortage is the top challenge for researchers.To contribute to this effort, field trials entitled "Effect of fertilizer dose on the performance of spring cereals" were conducted at Cereal Crops Research Institute Pirsabak Nowshehra, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan during 2010-2011.The experiment was laid out in RCB design with split plot arrangement replicated three times, with plot size 5X1.8m,having 6 rows 30cm apart.Fertilizer doses were allotted to main while cereal species were allotted to subplots.Fertilizer dose, cereal species and their interaction had significantly affected cereal performance.Application of 60:30:30 and 120:60:60 (N:P:K kg ha -1 ) significantly affected plant height and phenology of cereals than no NPK.Application of 60:30:30 and 120:60:60 produced 55% and 62% more grain yield respectively than no NPK.Wheat, triticale and oat phenology was significantly delayed, oat and triticale produced taller plants than wheat and barley.Triticale yield was significantly higher than barley, wheat and oat.In case of interactions triticale with 120:60:60 NPK took more days to heading (131) and physiological maturity (168), while barley took less days to heading (109) and physiological maturity with no NPK.Significantly taller plants were produced by oat (129 cm) at 120:60:60 while barley produced dwarf plants (73cm) with no NPK.In case of grain yield, triticale produced more yield (5275 kg ha -1 ) with 60:30:30 while oat gave lowest yield (2433 kg ha -1 ) with no NPK.It is concluded that triticale and barley performed well on less fertile soil than wheat and oat.For optimum production, 60:30:30 and 120:60:60 (N: P: K kg ha -1 ) are recommended for barley/triticale and wheat/oat respectively, in conditions similar to Nowshehra.