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Selenium content of wheat as affected by selenate and selenite contained in a Cl- or SO4-based NPK fertilizer

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Abstract

In areas where soils supply inadequate Se to crops to meet animal nutritional needs, it may be necessary to supplement Se in some fashion. This greenhouse experiment was designed to study the effect of selenate and selenite, incorporated with a Cl- or a SO4-based NPK (16-5-12) fertilizer added to a low-Se soil, on the Se concentration in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.). The sandy soil was limed to pH 5.5 and 6.5 prior to receiving 0, 0.03, or 0.06 mg Se kg−1 of soil with each NPK source each year for two years. The SO4-based NPK fertilizer treatment was used only at the 0.06 mg Se kg−1 rate. In the third year, the residual effect of the Se applied in the first 2 years was studied.

The grain yield among treatments differed significantly but the effects of the rate or source were not consistent in all the years. However, significantly higher yields were obtained at pH 6.5 than at pH 5.5.

Selenium concentration and uptake in wheat grain increased in proportion to the applied selenate but not selenite. However, selenite increased the Se concentration and uptake over the control. The concentration and uptake of Se were higher from selenate than from selenite. The effect of the Cl- and SO4-based NPK fertilizers was different on selenate and selenite. Selenium accumulation in wheat grain was greater from the Cl-based NPK fertilizer when selenate was used but it was greater from the SO4-based NPK fertilizer when selenite was used. The Se concentration in wheat, especially from selenate, was generally higher at the higher pH level except in the first year where it was higher at the lower pH level. The uptake of Se from the Se-enriched NPK fertilizers was generally as high as from the Se applied separately. The residual effect of both sources of Se applied in the first 2 years was very poor in the third year.

The results suggest that the Se concentration in wheat grain can be increased by incorporating the Se salts in the NPK fertilizers but more selenate is recovered than selenite. Selenate should, however, be incorporated in a Cl-based NPK fertilizer to avoid the ionic competition from SO4 ions in the SO4-based NPK fertilizer. The uptake of Se is generally higher at pH 6.5 than at pH 5.5.

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  1. Department of Soil Sciences, Agricultural University of Norway, P.O. Box 28, N-1432, Aas-NLH, Norway

    B. R. Singh

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Singh, B.R. Selenium content of wheat as affected by selenate and selenite contained in a Cl- or SO4-based NPK fertilizer. Fertilizer Research 30, 1–7 (1991). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01048821

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