EFFECT OF FOLIAR NANO NPK ON GROWTH, YIELD AND QUALITY OF WHEAT

A field experiment was conducted on Ain mara, Derna, Libya during the growing season of 2023/2024 to investigate the effect of Nano fertilizer NPK at different concentrations on vegetative growth, yield and chemical composition of wheat cv. “Giza 139”. The experiment was laid out in Randomized Complete Block Design with three replications. Nano fertilizer NPK spraying with the liquid fertilizer 19-19-19, the liquid Nano NPK fertilizer was sprayed at early morning on the vegetative part till getting complete wetting and dropping of first drop from plants. The results showed increasing Nano NPK up to 100% increased all vegetative growth were studied i.e. plant height, dry matter accumulation/ plant, leaf area index, total chlorophyll and number of tillers/ m2, also increased all yield and yield components i.e. spike length, number of spike/ m2, 1000-grain weight, biological yield, grain yield and harvest index percentage, on the other hand, chemical composition of wheat increased with increasing Nano NPK up to 100% such nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, protein and total carbohydrates percentages, followed by Nano NPK at 75%, as compared with the control treatment which recorded the lower all vegetative growth, yield and yield components and chemical composition of wheat. Conclusion: application of balanced fertilization of N, P and K recorded significantly higher NPK uptake. Nano-fertilizers are the most significant use of nanotechnology in agricultural crop production since they can feed plants gradually and under regulated conditions, unlike conventional fertilizers. When compared to chemical fertilizers, these Nano-fertilizers can be more effective in reducing soil pollution and other environmental problems.