Effects of foliar methanol applications on yield of bread wheat cultivars grown under field conditions

This experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of foliar methanol applications on wheat cultivars widely grown in Central Anatolia, Turkey. Two bread wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) cultivars ''Gerek 79'' and ''Bezostaja-1'' were used. Methanol solutions with 20% (v/v) were applied at early shooting, late shooting and heading stages and as their combinations under rainfed and irrigated field conditions in two locations, Konya and Cumra, in 1993-1994 crop season. Total biomass, grain yield, spike number per square meter, grain number per spike, thousand kernel weight, harvest index, plant height, days to heading, and days to maturity after anthesis were evaluated. For most of these traits, the differences between cultivars and between rainfed and irrigated conditions were highly significant. However, methanol applications at different growth stages was totally ineffective on all traits, indicating that methanol does not seem to have a potential for yield increases in wheat under Central Anatolia conditions in Turkey.