Water culture experiments were carried out to study the genetic variation in N, P, K utilization efficiency and genotypes response to different nutrient level in spring wheat and winter triticale. Significant differences (3–4 fold) in N utilization efficiency were found among winter triticale and spring wheat genotypes at shooting phase. Different genotype responses to different level of mineral elements in solution were noted. On the basis of these results the efficient genotypes were chosen as genotypes with high value of N, P, K utilization efficiency and biomass production in contrasting to inefficient one. The ranking of cultivars was the same at the throughout growth period. The significant correlation coefficients between nutrients utilization efficiency, dry matter and nutrients accumulation were observed. Selected genotypes of higher nutrient utilization efficiency showed higher yield in field experiments, except old polish spring wheat cultivars, which had lower grain yield resulted from lodging.
