RESPONSE OF WHEAT CROP TO PHOSPHORUS FERTILIZERS AND APPLICATION METHODS GROWN UNDER AGRO-CLIMATIC CONDITIONS OF SOUTHERN PUNJAB

Fertilizer, particularly phosphatic is a costly input which requires appropriate management to acquire economic and sustainable crop yield. a field experiment was conducted to explore the role of different phosphorus sources and methods of application on growth and yield of wheat crop at multan, pakistan during winter 2007-08. the experiment was conducted using randomized complete block design with split plot arrangements with three replications. wheat variety, inqlab-91 was used in the experimental trial. the experiment was comprised of two fertilizer sources (dap & np) and four application methods: control (m0), broad cast (m1), side dressing at planting (m2), broadcast at planting + at 1st irrigation (m3) and broadcast at 1st irrigation (m4). the application of phosphorus with side dressing at planting increased fertile tillers, spikelets per spike, 1000-grain weight and recorded significantly higher wheat grain yield (5.68 t ha-1) as compared to other methods of application. among sources, dap recorded significantly higher wheat grain yield than when np was used as phosphorus source