Nitrogen Application Rate and Uptake do not Always Correlate with Higher Yield in Pearl Millet.

Pearl millet [Pennisetum glaucum (L.) R. Br.] is a drought-tolerant cereal grain typically grown as a forage in the United States, but with new high yielding dwarf grain types this is being grown on increasing acreages of marginal land.  Previous nitrogen application studies have produced mixed results demonstrating both liner yield responses and no yield response to rates as high as 140 kg ha^-1.  The objective of this study was to evaluate, soil nitrogen, nitrogen uptake, and yield response to 14 different nitrogen rates.  Tifgrain 102 was evaluated in field plots planted after corn and pearl millet, treated with 14 nitrogen rates (0 kg ha^-1 to 157 kg ha^-1), in 2006 and 2007.  Soil N at heading and harvest were taken to .91 m, flag leaf N at heading, height at heading, dry matter at heading and grain yield data were obtained. Liner response to applied nitrogen was observed for height and flag leaf tissue N, however yield and dry weight did not provide a significant response to increasing levels of applied nitrogen.