Enhancement of wheat productivity under different levels of tillage, seeding rate and nitrogen sources in an arid region

الملخص EN

A two year field experiment was conducted during the winter season of 2018/2019 and 2019/2020, to evaluate grain yield and some agronomic traits of the Egyptian local wheat cultivar (Shandaweel 1) under three tillage practices; conventional (CT), partial (PT) and zero tillage (ZT), three nitrogen fertilizer treatments (180 kg mineral N ha^-1 (N1), 144 kg N ha^-1 + humic acid (N2) and 108 kg N ha^-1 + humic acid + halex (N3) as well as three seeding rates (95 (S1), 119 (S2) and 143 (S3) kg ha^-1).

Conservation tillage practices showed significantly higher yield or at least equal to partial tillage, highlighting 1.6 ton ha^-1 increase over conventional tillage in 2019 season, emphasizing the suitability of conservation tillage for agriculture in arid regions.

Averaged over the two growing seasons, the non-significant 0.6 ton ha^-1 difference in yield between N1 and N3 suggests the replacement of part of the mineral nitrogen fertilizer with more environmentally friendly forms without yield penalty.

The intermediate seeding rate offered an adequate balance between resources and number of plants/unit area, thus minimizing competition and outperforming the lowest and highest seeding rate with a 0.5-0.7 ton ha^-1 over the two growing seasons.