Yield, Morphological traits and Nitrogen use Efficiency of Eruca sativa as affected by Irrigation, Plant density and Nitrogen Fertilization

TLDR: According to the results, it is recommended to use the dens ity of 160 plants m -2 optimally irrigated and fertilized with 100 kg N ha -1 because of its optimum seed yield and NUE which takes environmental issues under consideration too.

Abstract: The effect of different levels of irrigation, plant density and N fertilization was studied on the yield, morphological traits and N use efficiency (NUE) of Eruca sativa in the research farm of Islamic Azad University of Birjand, Iran in 2013-2014 in a factorial split-plot experiment. The main plot was devoted to water deficit stress at two levels of no stress (optimum irrigation) and stress at reproductive stage, the sub - plot was devoted to plant density at two levels of 60 and 160 plants m -2 , and thesub-sub-plot was devoted to N fertilization at three rates of 0, 100 and 200 kg ha -1 . It was found that drought stress at reproductive stage resulted in 68.5% loss of seed yield, 66.7 and 73.1% loss of N use efficiency for biomass and seed produ ction as compared to optimum irrigation. In addition, the increase in density from 60 to 160 plants m -2 resulted in 29.5% higher seed yield, 11.5% higher plant height, 30.3 and 21.1% higher NUE for biomass and seed production, 20.3% higher number of auxiliary branches, and 44.9 and 35.7% higher NAE for biomass and seed production. The interaction between plant density and N was significant for NUE for biomass production. Also the interaction between irrigation, plant density and N was significant for seed yield, NUE for biomass and seed production. According to the results, it is recommended to use the dens ity of 160 plants m -2 optimally irrigated and fertilized with 100 kg N ha -1 because of its optimum seed yield and NUE which takes environmental issues under consideration too.