Results&Conclusion
Results:
-Mean winter wheat heights applying different treatments
Figure 6a. Mean winter wheat plant heights with standard error at maturity in different PB treatments.
Referring to Figure 6a, all four mean winter wheat heights (MWWHs) are similar. Comparing the MWWH of T1 with the other three treatment groups, the similar MWWHs indicate that when winter wheat is grown under heat and drought stresses, applying PB to plants cannot have a significant impact on plant height growth. Also, having a single PB application at different plant growing stages (T2 vs T3) does not affect final MWWHs significantly, and having multiple PB applications is similar to having a single PB application at either stage. Therefore, applying PB to winter wheat grown under heat and drought stresses is not a good option when people want to improve plant height development.
-Mean winter wheat dry biomass applying different treatments
Figure 6b. Mean winter wheat plant dry biomass with standard error at maturity in different PB treatments.
Referring to Figure 6b, four mean winter wheat dry biomass (MWDBs) differ. Comparing the MWDB of T1 with the other three treatment groups shows that either having a single PB application at the BBCH 21 stage (see Table 2) or having two PBs applications at both BBCH 21 and BBCH 45-53 stages could improve the plant biomass development of winter wheat when it grows under heat and drought stresses. However, having a single PB application at BBCH 45-53 does not affect the biomass development significantly. Comparing the MWDBs of T2 and T4, these treatments' MWDBs are similar, but having two applications at both growing stages creates more improvement of biomass development than only having a single PB application at the BBCH 21 stage. Therefore, applying PB to winter wheat grown under heat and drought stresses is a good option when people want to increase plant biomass. However, the PB treatment is effective when having a single application at the BBCH 21 stage, or having two applications at both growing stages.
-Mean winter wheat spikes number applying different treatments.
Figure 6c. Mean winter wheat spikes number with standard error at maturity in different PB treatments.
Referring to Figure 6c. Comparing the mean winter wheat spikes number (MWWSN) of T1 with the other three treatment groups, both MWWSNs of T2 and T4 are similar to T2 but slightly higher; T3's MWWSN is lower than T1's. These findings indicate that either applying the PB at the BBCH 21 stage or applying the PB at both growing stages can increase the winter wheat spikes number when it is grown under heat and drought stress. However, this improvement is inconspicuous. Besides, singly applying the PB at the BBCH 45-53 stage could reduce the plant spike number. Therefore, applying PB to winter wheat grown under heat and drought stresses is not a good option when people want to increase the plant spike development; it could even reduce the winter wheat spike number if the PB is applied at an improper growing stage.
-Mean winter wheat seeds number applying different treatments.
Figure 6d. Mean winter wheat seeds number with standard error at maturity in different PB treatments.
Referring to Figure 4d. It is evident that applying the PB at any growing stage and having single or double applications can significantly improve winter wheat seed development. Specifically, when applying the PB at the BBCH 45-53 growing stage only, winter wheat produces the most significant number of seeds. Comparing the mean winter wheat seeds number of T2 and T4, having two PB applications could have more improvement of winter wheat seed development than the single PB application at the BBCH 21 growing stage. Therefore, applying PB to winter wheat grown under heat and drought stresses is a good option when people want to increase the plant seed number. Also, the BBCH 45-53 growing is the best time for people to apply the PB to the winter wheat.
Discussion:
At the beginning of the experiment, there are three questions related to the experimental objective; they are: i) Does the application of Project-X improve winter wheat production under heat and drought stresses? ii) Do different application dates (referring to the BBCH-scale for winter wheat) affect the production outcome? iii) Does multiple applications of Project-X improve the production outcome than a single application?
Referring to Figures 4a, b, c, and d. It is evident that applying the Project-X at different winter wheat growing stages could affect the production outcome. For example, applying the PB at the BBCH 45-53 growing stage could generate much more mean winter wheat seeds numbers, or much fewer mean winter wheat spikes numbers than at the BBCH 21 growing stage.
Multiple applications of Project-X can only improve the production outcome of some aspects of winter wheat. For example, using two applications of Project-X at both growing stages can make winter wheat produce more dry biomass than using a single application at either stage. However, when people want to improve the production of winter wheat seeds, using a single application at BBCH 45-53 stage would produce more seeds than using two applications.
Overall, it is good to say that the application of Project-X improves winter wheat production because PB could improve seed production significantly. Harvested seed number is an important indicator to evaluate the quality of crop production.
Conclusion:
Winter wheat (Triticum aestivum) is an important commercial crop in Alberta's agricultural industry. The exceptional heat and drought conditions in the summer of 2023 negatively impacted the growth of winter wheat and caused the production to be reduced. Application of the plant biostimulant is a good option to improve winter wheat production without contaminating the agricultural environment. This experiment is designed to test and evaluate the benefits of a new PB (Project-X) produced by the manufacturer APH. By the end of the experiment, researchers found that: i) the application of Project-X improves winter wheat production under heat and drought stresses. ii) applying the Project-X at different winter wheat growing stages could affect the production outcome. iii) Multiple applications of Project-X can only improve the production outcome of some parts of winter wheat.