Relationship between Physiological and Yield Attributes of Wheat as affected by Application of Bio-fertilizer (N-fixer Bacteria) with Nitrogen Fertilizer

Abstract

Triticum aestivum productivity can be significantly enhanced through integrated nutrient management involving bio-fertilisers, organic manures, and chemical fertilisers. Nitrogen-fixing and phosphate-solubilising bio-fertilisers improve growth, physiological traits, and yield components, with positive correlations observed between grain yield, leaf area, tiller number, and biomass, highlighting their critical role in sustainable wheat production. A multi-location experiment was carried out over two consecutive winter seasons (2017/2018 and 2018/2019) across three regions of the New Halfa scheme to evaluate the effects of bio-fertilizers—specifically nitrogen-fixing bacteria and phosphorus-solubilising bacteria—combined with nitrogen and phosphorus supplementation via chicken manure on the growth and performance of wheat plants. The results revealed that, addition of amended N or P to bio fertilizer causes significant positive correlation between the grain yield of wheat with physiological traits like leaf area duration(LAD), net assimilation rate(NAR) and crop growth rate (CGR) and most related characters yield components (number of grains per plant,1000–grain weight, harvest index. Thus, the significant positive correlation between these traits and grain yield indicates their substantial contribution to the final yield.