Efficacy Comparison of Stearic Acid, Glutathione and Salicylic Acid on Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) Cultivars Productivity in Sandy Soil

Abstract

A field experiment was carried out at Salhia District, Sharkia Governorate, Egypt, to study the growth and productivity of wheat cultivars (Gemmeiza 9, Sakha 93, Giza 168 and Sakha 94) to three bioregulators i.e. stearic acid (StA), glutathione (Gl) and salicylic acid (SA) at 50 and 100 ppm concentration. The results indicated that there was a significant difference in the accumulation of photosynthetic pigment in flag leaf among the wheat cultivars as well as between the bioregulator treatments. Gemmeiza 9 produced significantly higher grain yield than Sakha 93, Giza 168 and Sakha 94 cultivars by 26.0, 32.6 and 22.9%, respectively. The response of wheat plants to the three bioregulators was varied according to the wheat cultivar and bioregulator as well as bioregulator concentration used. Application of StA at 100 ppm gave the highest increment in grain yield (26.2%) followed by SA at 100 ppm (23.4%) with insignificant difference between the two superior treatments. The maximum grain yield was obtained by spraying Gemmeiza 9 and Sakha 94 with 100 ppm of stearic acid and salicylic acid, respectively. Application of SA (50 ppm) gave the lowest grain yieldha-1, compared to rest bio-regulators treatments, however this treatment increased grain yield per ha by 9.4%. Insignificant differences were noticed among the wheat cultivars in the free amino acids, total phenols and total sugars, while Sakha 94 recorded the highest sucrose content in grains. Exogenous application of Gl (50 and 100 ppm) gave the highest value of the free amino acids and sucrose percent, respectively, while highest total phenols and total sugars were recorded with application SA at 100 ppm. Generally, it could be concluded that growing wheat plants Gemmeiza 9 and spraying the plants with stearic acid at 100 ppm increase the wheat productivity in the sandy soil.