Zinc enrichment in wheat genotypes under various methods of zinc application

Abstract

Around half of the cereal growing soil in the world are zinc (Zn)-deficient and it severally affects the health of plants, animals and humans. In order to investigate the enrichment of Zn in cereals a pot experiment was conducted in two contrasting wheat genotypes viz., UP2628 (Zn efficient) and UP262 (Zn inefficient) under different methods of Zn application such as control (0 Zn), soil application (5 mg Zn/kg soil tagged with 3.7 MBq of 65Zn/pot), foliar spray of 0.5% ZnSO4 at 30, 60 and 90 days (tagged with 925 KBq of 65Zn/pot), soil application (5 mg Zn/kg soil tagged with 3.7 MBq of 65Zn/pot) + foliar spray of 0.5% ZnSO4 at 30, 60 and 90 days (tagged with 925 KBq of 65Zn/pot). Cultivars showed marked difference in 65Zn accumulation and grain Zn content. In both contrasting genotypes the highest Zn content in grains was recorded under soil application + foliar spray of Zn fertilizers. Both UP262 and UP2628 showed similar accumulation of 65Zn in leaves however, UP2628 exhibited better translocation efficiency and accumulated higher 65Zn in stem and grains than UP262.

Keywords

• triticum aestivum l.
• zinc deficiency
• zinc availability
• micronutrient
• nutritional quality