Phosphorus seed coating enhancement on early growth and yield components in oat

Availability of P reserves for seedling growth in germinating oat (Avena sativa L.) grain is likely to be reduced in comparison with that in other temperate cereals. Environmental concerns have resulted in reduced P and N fertilizer application, which may, with transformation of P into unavailable f...

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Published in:Agronomy journal 2006-01, Vol.98 (1), p.206-211
Main Authors: Peltonen-Sainio, P, Kontturi, M, Peltonen, J
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
agronomic traits
Agronomy. Soil science and plant productions
Avena sativa
Biological and medical sciences
coatings
cultivars
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
grain yield
nitrogen
oats
phosphorus
plant growth
seed germination
seed treatment
seedling growth
yield components
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Summary:Availability of P reserves for seedling growth in germinating oat (Avena sativa L.) grain is likely to be reduced in comparison with that in other temperate cereals. Environmental concerns have resulted in reduced P and N fertilizer application, which may, with transformation of P into unavailable forms in soil, result in suboptimal P availability especially at seedling growth. A field experiment was arranged with oat cultivars (Belinda, Fiia, and Salo) in main plots and P seed coating in subplots. The experiment was done in 2003 and 2004 at two locations in Finland that differed in soil type and were all low in soil P content. A third experiment also having low soil P content included three cultivation methods (1, control, with 80 kg N and 18 kg P ha(-1) and herbicide application; 2, 80 kg N and 18 kg P ha(-1) and herbicide application, supplemented with 40 kg sulfur (S) ha(-1); and 3, 80 kg N and 18 kg P ha(-1) and herbicide application, supplemented with 40 kg S ha(-1) and fungicide application). It was sown with two oat cultivars (Belinda and Fiia) with and without P seed coating. Seedling emergence, biomass accumulation, relative growth rate, growth duration, grain yield, and 20 plant stand structure traits were measured. Seed coating with P resulted in alterations to many of the recorded plant stand structure traits. All significant changes represented improvements over the control. The effect, however, changed depending on experiment, location, cultivation method, and cultivar. Most often, enhanced biomass accumulation (up to 22%) and grain set (up to 15%) occurred. This was not, however, associated with increased grain yield in any of the experiments, even in cases where biomass and grain yield per unit area were increased by P coating. Small kernels were probably lost during harvest, as in most cases grain weight of hand-threshed samples was lower (by 8% in average) than that in harvested yield. In conclusion, P seed coating promoted early oat growth without increasing economic yield.
ISSN:0002-1962
1435-0645
DOI:10.2134/agronj2005.0141