Effects of NPK (20-20-20) on Growth and Yield of Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) at Two Different Sites of Kandahar, Afghanistan

Wheat is one of the most significant staple foods in human nutrition worldwide. The application of N, P, and K not only increased growth but also increased wheat yield. Local farmers use two sources of N and P fertilizer, urea and diammonium phosphate (DAP), which is inefficient. Thus, the experiment was conducted in order to improve wheat growth and yield by providing balanced N, P, and K from a single source to be more efficient than local practices. There are limited studies on the topic, especially on the particular N, P, and K fertilizer and in the research area. The research aimed to study the effects of NPK (20-20-20) fertilizer on the growth and yield of wheat. The experiments were conducted at two different sites using a randomized complete block design (RCBD) with five treatments: T0 (control), T1 (250 kg ha⁻¹ Urea + 200 kg ha⁻¹ DAP), T2 (100 kg NPK 20–20–20 ha⁻¹), T3 (200 kg NPK 20–20–20 ha⁻¹), and T4 (300 kg NPK 20–20–20 ha⁻¹), each replicated three times. Plant height, spike length, plant fresh weight, shoot fresh weight, and root length of wheat were increased significantly by 28.52%, 26.78%, 32.42%, 38.68%, and 28.42%, respectively. Similarly, grain yield, straw yield, biological yield, and number of spikelets per spike also increased significantly by 51.71%, 39.13%, 41.68%, and 35.60%, respectively. The application of NPK-balanced (20-20-20) fertilizer increased most of the growth and some of the yield parameters of wheat compared to the local fertilization practices at both sites under the agroclimatic conditions of Kandahar.