Wheat production and its importance in Arsi Zone and Ethiopian has much contribution to the market and consumption, but its productivity is still very low due to poor agronomic practices and diminishing soil fertility. Thus, field study was conducted with the objective of evaluating the effect of sulphur fertilizer on growth, yield and quality attributes of bread wheat varieties. The experiment consisted of six levels of sulphur fertilizer (0, 15, 30, 45, 60, 75 kg ha-1) and three wheat varieties (Hidasse, Kingbird, Lemu) which were replicated three times in a Randomized Complete Block Design. Grain yield and hectoliter weight were significantly (p<0.05) affected by sulphur rates. Application of 45 kgha-1 sulphur increased the grain yield of wheat by 14% as compared to those grown without sulphur application. The results of the correlation analysis showed that the grain yield was positively significantly (p<0.05) correlated with total number of tillers(r=0.33), total number of productive tiller(r=0.30), plant height (r=0.32), days to maturity(r=0.10), panicle length (r=0.07), number of grain per spike(r=0.16), biomass yield(r=0.42), hectoliter weight(r=0.11) and harvest index(r=0.32); while, negatively and significantly (p<0.05) associated with protein content (r=0.14). The current study indicated that application of 45 kg ha-1 sulphur to Hidasse, 30 kg ha-1 sulphur to Kingbird, and 15 kg ha-1 sulphur to Lemu variety along the recommended 100 kg ha-1 DAP and 100 kg ha-1 urea produced more grain yield and quality of bread wheat along with better economic (MRR) advantageous at the study area in addition to maintaining soil fertility. Thus, sulphur supplementation along the recommended fertilizers is variety and soil nutrients based.

Keywords: Bread wheat, Sulphur fertilizer, Variety, Wheat protein content, Yield