Nitrogen (N) fertilisation, as well as selection of the best cultivar and sowing date, have a significant impact on growth, plant physiology, and yield of wheat. In this study, three parameters (application of N fertilisation, early/late sowing time, and cultivars) and their interaction were examined to investigate their impact on agronomic characteristics of durum wheat and N soil content. Fertilised plants had the highest values of dry weight (15,265 kg/ha) and yield (5530 kg/ha) compared to the control. N fertilisation contributed to the increase in chlorophyll and stomatal conductance values in all measurements, while photosynthetic and transpiration rates were not affected by N application at the final measurement. Late-sown plants presented higher seed yield, even though a positive impact in dry weight (14,747 kg/ha) and 1000-seed weight (53 g) was observed in early-sown plants. The Levante cultivar reported the highest values of number of tillers (3), while yield (5399 kg/ha) and 1000-seed weight (60 g) were higher in the Simeto cultivar. The soil N content remained stable and was not significantly affected by the cultivar and sowing time. The results of this study indicate that the combination of fertilisation regime, cultivar, and sowing time influences growth and yield of durum wheat under the specific conditions of this Mediterranean environment.
Vitsa et al. (Mon,) studied this question.