Sarhad J. Agric. Vol. 26, No. 4, 2010 559 EFFECT OF INTEGRATED USE OF ORGANIC AND INORGANIC NITROGEN SOURCES ON WHEAT YIELD S. AZAM SHAH*, S. MAHMOOD SHAH*, WISAL MOHAMMAD*, M. SHAFI**, HAQ NAWAZ*, SAMREEN SHEHZADI* and M. AMIR* * Nuclear Institute for Food and Agriculture (NIFA), Peshawar – Pakistan. ** Department of Agronomy, KP Agricultural University, Peshawar – Pakistan. ABSTRACT The integrated use of organic and inorganic fertilizers on the yield of wheat was evaluated in a field experiment at Nuclear Institute for Food and Agriculture (NIFA), Peshawar during December 2004 to May 2005. The organic sources used were farmyard manure, poultry manure and city waste. These were integrated in different proportions with mineral nitrogenous fertilizer to supply 120 kg N ha -1 N. All the organic fertilizers were applied at sowing time and mineral fertilizer (urea) was applied in three splitter sowing, tillering and booting stages in equal amount. The results showed that integrated use in different proportion increased the plant height, spike length, grain per spike and 1000-grain weight. Maximum grain yield of 3.5 tha -1 was obtained from treatments where 25% N was applied from FYM 25% N from poultry manure or city waste and 50% from mineral source and in treatment where25% N was applied from FYM, 25% from city waste and 50% from mineral fertilizer. Application of half N from urea with 25% N from either FYM and 25% poultry manure or city waste proved beneficial and reduced 50% fertilizer cost. Key Words: organic N, mineral N, wheat yield, integrated use. Citation: Shah, A. S., S. M. Shah, W. Mohammad, M. Shafi, H. Nawaz, S. Shehzadi and M. Amir. 2010. Effect of integrated use of organic and inorganic nitrogen sources on wheat yield. Sarhad J. Agric. 26(4): 559-563 INTRODUCTION Wheat is the major staple food of Pakistan as well as of the world. The grain is directly or in directly used as human diet and its straw is used as an animal feed. In Pakistan, wheat was grown on 7 m ha in irrigated areas with an average yield of 2566 kg ha -1 (MINFAL, 2004-05). In KP, irrigated wheat was grown on 0.316 m ha with an average yield of 2018 kg ha -1. The average yield is very low as compared to other advance countries of the world. Low yield of wheat in Pakistan may be attributed to many factors including imbalance fertilizer application. The alkaline and calcareous soils of Pakistan are extensively deficient in nitrogen, phosphorus, zinc and organic matter, hence application of fertilizer is considered imperative for increasing crop production (Memon, 1996). Mineral fertilizers play a significant role in boosting crop production on alkaline calcareous soils of Pakistan (Ahmad, 2000). Despite increased use of the fertilizers, per hectare yield has not been increased proportionally rather stagnation occurs (Ali, 2000). This has been attributed to the imbalanced use of mineral fertilizers and inappropriate method of their application that culminated in low efficiency. According to Zia et al. (2000), continuous use of chemical fertilizers even in balanced proportion will not be able to sustain crop productivity due to deterioration in soil health. Application of organic manures or some organic wastes alone was found useful (Ibrahim et al., 1992; Alam and Shah, 2003), but integrated use of organic wastes and chemical fertilizer has proved more rewarding (Mian et al., 1989, Nasir and Qureshi, 1999; Khanam et al. 2001, Alam et al., 2003, 2005). Limited availability of additional land for crop production, along with declining yield of major food crops, have heightened concerns about agriculture's ability to feed the growing population expected to exceed 7.5 billion by the year 2020. Future strategies for increasing agricultural productivity will have to focus on using available nutrient resources more efficiently, effectively, and on sustainable basis. Integrated nutrient management are essential for proper plant growth, water use, soil, and land management, that will be critical for the sustaining agriculture productivity over the long term. The overall strategy for increasing crop yields and sustaining them at a high level must include an integrated approach to the management of soil nutrients. An integrated approach recognizes that soils are the storehouse of most of the plant nutrients essential for plant growth and have a major impact on soil fertility, and agricultural sustainability. In addition to farm manures, a huge amount of wastes generated in all big cities, town and villages of Pakistan, which pollute the atmosphere of these cities, and villages, can be used for enhancing soil fertility and crop productivity. Keeping these facts in view, the present investigation was carried out to study the effect of mineral N (urea), and organic manures (farm yard manure, poultry manure and municipal waste) alone and in various combinations on yield and yield components of wheat.