Effect of winter wheat cultivar on grain yield trend under different nitrogen management

Abstract In many developing countries, crop production is achieved with little or no application of fertilizer N. Understanding grain yield trends as new winter wheat cultivars (Triticum aestivum L.) are released and grown under different N management is important for crop yield improvement. This study evaluated grain yield trends of winter wheat cultivars over time in a crop production system with and without N application. Yield data was obtained from two long‐term experiments; 502 (E502) and 222 (E222) between 1969 and 2018. Results showed a mean annual grain yield increase of 12 and 30 kg ha–1 yr–1 as new cultivars were released and grown under adequate N management in E222 and E502, respectively. However, without N application, yield declined annually by 2.4 kg ha–1 yr–1 in E222 and increased marginally by 0.6 kg ha–1 yr–1 in E502. Nonetheless, the yield increase or decrease was only significant for E502 at 112 kg N ha–1 (r2 = .145; p = .01) and its slope was significantly different from that of control treatment (p = .02). In both experiments, yield was significantly influenced by cultivar and N interaction (p < .01), an indication that yield changed according to the level of N applied. In general, when N was applied, grain yields were high as well. New cultivars released over time improved grain yield with adequate N management.