Nitrogen fertilization in wheat, in clay soils at the Mexicali valley, Baja California, Mexico

The national and international markets' demand for wheat commercialization is conditioned by quality standards, among which the protein content and percentage of vitreous grain, without white belly, stand out. In them, nitrogen plays an important role in the yield and quality of the wheat grain. For these reasons, the objective of this research was to determine the effect that nitrogen has on yield, grain protein, and the vitreous grain percentage. A field experiment, planted on December 16, 2009, was conducted at the Institute of Agricultural Sciences of the Universidad Autónoma de Baja California. The experimental design was of complete randomized blocks with four repetitions. The assessed treatments were 0, 105, 210, 315, and 340 kg of N ha-1 (N0, N105, N210, N315 and N340, respectively). The sown seed was Aconchi F-76 variety crystal wheat. The evaluated variables were grain yield, protein content, and vitreous grain quantity (without white belly). The results indicated that the 210, 315, and 340 kg of N ha-1 treatments affected the yield, protein content, and white belly decrease in the grain. Grain quality is therefore improved with these nitrogen doses, in relation to the quality of the harvested grain in the plots with 0 kg ha-1 and those cultivated with 105 kg ha-1.