Relative effectiveness of various sources, methods, times and rates of copper fertilizers in improving grain yield of wheat on a Cu-deficient soil

A field experiment was conducted to determine the relative effectiveness of various sources, methods, times and rates of Cu fertilizers on grain yield, protein concentration in grain, concentration of Cu in grain and uptake of Cu in grain of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.), and residual concentration of DTPA-extractable Cu in soil on a Cu-deficient soil near Porcupine Plain in northeastern Saskatchewan. The experiment was conducted from 1999 to 2002 on the same site, but the results for 2002 were not presented because of very low grain yield due to drought in the growing season. The 25 treatments included soil application of four granular Cu fertilizers (Cu lignosulphonate, Cu sulphate, Cu oxysulphate I and Cu oxysulphate II) as soil-incorporated (at 0.5 and 2.0 kg Cu ha-1), seedrow-placed (at 0.25 and 1.0 kg Cu ha-1) and foliar application of four solution Cu fertilizers (Cu chelate-EDTA, Cu sequestered I, Cu sulphate/chelate and Cu sequestered II at 0.25 kg Cu ha-1) at the four-leaf and flag-leaf growth st...