Performance of Oat under Different Sowing Densities and Nitrogen Levels

Abstract

Oats have historically been utilized as both animal feed and human food and continue to play a significant role in these capacities today. Understanding the extent to which the yield and quality of oat cultivars are influenced by agricultural practices is of great importance to breeders. The aim of this study is to determine the effects of different sowing densities and nitrogen applications on the grain yield, yield components, and some quality traits of oats. In the study, various traits of oats were examined, including plant height, panicle length, number of spikelets per panicle, number of grains per panicle, grain yield, thousand-grain weight, groat percentage, ash content, protein content, starch content, β-glucan content, fat content, acid detergent fiber, and neutral detergent fiber. This study was conducted over two years during the 2019-2020 and 2020-2021 growing seasons in Türkiye. The experiments were established using a split-plot design, where the main plots were assigned nitrogen doses (0, 40, 80, 120, and 160 kg N ha⁻¹) and the subplots were assigned sowing densities (150, 300, 450, and 600 seeds m²), with three replications. The highest grain yield was obtained at sowing densities of 300 and 450 seeds m² as 4.45 t ha⁻¹ and 4.56 t ha⁻¹, respectively. Since there was no statistically significant difference in yield between these densities, a sowing density of 300 seeds m⁻² can be recommended on oat. Additionally, the highest grain yield was achieved with a nitrogen dose of 80 kg per hectare. In conclusion, grain yield and quality traits in oats have shown significant differences based on the years, applied nitrogen doses, and sowing density practices.

Keywords

• Avena
• Fertilizer
• Grain yield
• Sowing density
• β-glucan

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