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Zinc (Zn) is critical for the activity of many enzymes including involved photosynthetic CO2 fixation and indirectly involved in the production of growth hormones and internode elongation in crop plants. In this regard, a field experiment was conducted to investigate the comparative effectiveness of the Zn blended, Zn coated and bio-activated Zn coated urea on the growth, physiological, yield, and quality of wheat. Three types of urea were prepared including bio-activated Zn coated, Zn coated and Zn blended urea. The bio-activated Zn coated urea was prepared by inoculating the powdered organic material with Zn solubilizing bacterium (Bacillus sp. AZ6) and then this material was mixed with ZnO. This bioactive Zn was coated on urea at the rate to formulate 1.5% bio-activated Zn coated urea. Moreover, Zn blended urea was prepared by mixing powder ZnO with urea while Zn coated urea with 1.5% Zn was prepared by mixing ZnO and urea under proper moisture conditions to ensure proper coating. In results, growth parameters were significantly increased with the application of bio-activated Zn coated urea as compared to other urea formulations and the control. The same treatment caused the maximum increase in quality parameters like oil contents (55%), protein (30%), and N concentration (30%) as compared to the control. In conclusion, the application of 1.5% bio-activated Zn coated urea was highly effective in enhancing the growth, physiological, yield, and quality parameters of wheat.

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M illions of people in the world feeding on cereals like wheat and rice (FAO, 2012). After wheat, rice is utmost imperative essential crop of Pakistan. It contributes approximately 0.6 percent in GDP. During 2018-2019 rice was sown on 2810 thousand hectares with production of 7202 thousand tons (Pakistan Economic Survey, 2018-2019). World's population increasing day by day, therefore, food need is also increasing, while the natural resources are same (United Nations, 2012). Malnutrition is a very popular issue of poor communities and due to reduced bioavailability, micronutrients deficiency is also becoming serious issue (Huang et al., 2002). In the soils of Zinc (Zn) deficient areas, Zn deficiency Abstract | Zinc (Zn) is an important microelement not only for animals, plants but for humans as well. Its importance cannot ignore for the plants to improve overall quality and yield. The overall physiology, quality and biochemical parameters also enhanced with optimum application of Zn. By keeping in mind, the facts, it was hypothesized that the use of ZnO (a cheap source of Zn) impregnated urea for rice may enhance grains (paddy) yield. Three types of urea were prepared including Zn coated, bio-activated Zn coated and Zn blended urea at the 1.5% rate of formulate. The bio-activated Zn coated urea was prepared by inoculating the powdered organic material with Zinc solubilizing bacterium and then this material was mixed with ZnO. This bio-active Zn was coated on urea at 1.5% rates to formulate. Moreover, Zn blended urea was prepared by mixing powder ZnO with urea. The comparative efficacies of different types of Zn impregnated urea were compared with ZnSO 4 to grains yield, physiology and biochemistry of rice under field conditions. The results showed that 1.5% bio-activated Zn (ZnO) coated urea performed better in promoting yield and biochemical parameters. About 15 to 20% increase was observed in yield physical, biochemical and quality parameters. This suggests that the application of bio-activated Zn coated urea @ 1.5% is greatly active in enhancing quality and yield of rice crop.

Boron is directly or indirectly involved in the enhancement of quality and quantity of crops especially vegetables and fruits so this study was planned to assess the boron uptake, yield and quality of carrot in response to boron application at

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Iron (Fe), being an essential micronutrient, is necessary for human health and to maintain the integrity and development of the plant. In Fe-limiting conditions, plants and plant growth-promoting rhizobacterial (PGPR) have a siderophore production mechanism. Inoculation with seed soaking of such siderophore-producing bacteria can be a cost-effective biofortification technique. The current study includes the collection of rhizobacterial isolates from wheat, maize, sorghum, millet, and maize rhizosphere soil of Rawalpindi and Sargodha divisions. The screening of bacterial isolates for siderophore production through CAS-shuttle assay (quantitative) and CAS-agar (qualitative) was done. Isolates were further characterized for Fe and phosphorus solubilization, indole acidic acid (IAA) equivalents, and organic acid production. The growth chamber and field study was planned to evaluate the effectiveness of these isolates on the growth and yield parameters of wheat. Total bacterial isolates were 50, out of which 15 isolates were found significantly positive for the production of siderophore and solubilizing of nutrients. The (SPS10) produced a comparatively high percentage of 46.2 % siderophore units, as shown by results between positive isolates. Out of 15 positive, 7 isolates significantly improved root/shoot growth over control in the growth chamber study. Inoculation with siderophore-producing bacteria showed a significant increase in plant height, grain yield, spike length, grain weight, no. of tillers plant -1 , and wheat quality in a field trial. The results from the current study proposed that in the plant, rhizobacteria can also play a beneficial role in nutrient translocation to plants efficiently and nutrients uptake from the soil insoluble form.

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