Seaweed Sap as an Alternative Liquid Fertilizer for Yield and Quality Improvement of Wheat

The experiment was conducted on a farmer's field near Bhavnagar (Gujarat, India) during the Rabi season of 2008–2009 to study the effect of foliar applications of Kappaphycus alvarezii and Gracilaria edulis sap on growth and yield response of wheat var. ‘GW 496’. Three foliar sprays of both saps were applied at the rate of 2.5, 5.0, 7.5, and 10.0% (v/v) along with water as a control at different stages of the crop. It was found that yield of grain was increased significantly by 19.74% and 13.16% for plants receiving 7.5% and 5.0% concentrations of K. alvarezii and G. edulis sap, respectively, over control. The increase in yield was attributed to increases in the number of spike, spike weight, spike length and 100 seed weight. Foliar applications of K. alvarezii sap at 7.5% increased nutrient contents in grains from 7.91% (K) – 31.82% (S) whereas G. edulis sap increased nutrient content 5.72% (N) – 37.54% (Mg).