THE INFLUENCE OF MINERAL FERTILIZATION ON THE QUALITY OF WINTER WHEAT

Abstract

Improving the quality of wheat is one of the major objectives of plant breeding programs, wheat being one of the most cultivated plants due to its significant share in human nutrition. In order to obtain quality bakery products, the processed grains must have a high protein and gluten content. This paper aims to analyze the influence of mineral fertilization with nitrogen and phosphorus on the accumulation of protein and gluten in the Ciprian wheat variety (created by ARDS Lovrin, in the period 2018-2020. Ammonium nitrate (33.5%) was used as a nitrogen fertilizer; the following graduates were used in the experiments: N0, N30, N60, N90 and N120. Phosphorus graduations was P0, P40, P80, P120 and P160. The analyzed parameters were: protein, gluten and starch. As a percentage, the three parameters are very significantly influenced by the amount of fertilizer administered but also by the climatic conditions of the agricultural year. Of the two types of fertilizers studied, both unilaterally and in interaction, nitrogen has a fundamental role in obtaining valuable qualitative productions for winter wheatThe percentage of protein and gluten varies in the range 11.2% - 14.7% (protein), respectively 27.81% - 38.56% (gluten), with very significant differences from the control variant, at all levels of nitrogen fertilizers, statistically assured for the probability of transgression of 0.1%. In contrast, under the action of mineral fertilization with nitrogen, the percentage of starch in the grain decreases proportionally with the increase of the administered dose. The unilaterally applied phosphorus does not bring significant changes of the studied qualitative parameters, but being used as a support for nitrogen. The highest values of protein and gluten are registered at the combined administration of the two types of fertilizers, with a visible capping at the maximum doses administered to the wheat crop.