Zinc (Zn) is critically required by plants, animals and human beings. About one third of total world's poor population is at the high risk of Zn deficiency because they rely on cereals for their daily caloric intake. By keeping in mind this scenario it is hypothesized that the use of ZnO (a cheap source of Zn) impregnated urea for rice may enhance Zn contents in grains. 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 Zinc solubilizing bacterium and then this material was mixed with ZnO. This bio-active Zn was coated on urea at three rates to formulate 0.5, 1 and 1.5% bio-activated Zn coated urea. Moreover, Zn blended urea was prepared by mixing powder ZnO with urea. The comparative efficacy of different types of Zn impregnated urea were compared with ZnSO4 to enhance growth, yield and grains Zn concentration of rice grown in pots. The results showed that 1.5% bio-activated Zn (ZnO) coated urea performed better in promoting growth, yield and grain Zn content than other treatments. About 15 to 20% increase was observed in yield and grain Zn concentration. This suggests that the application of 1.5% bio-activated Zn coated urea is highly effective in enhancing growth, yield and quality of rice.

The present investigation examined the effects of silicon application and inoculation with the plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) Enterobacter cloacae and Bacillus drentensis on alleviating ion toxicity, regulating osmolytes accumulation, and productivity of field-grown mung bean under saline water irrigation. Inoculated seeds were grown in sandy loam soils (electrical conductivity: 2.78 dS m À1 ) and irrigated with water with three salinity levels (3.12, 5.46, and 7.81 dS m À1 ) using a drip irrigation system. Foliar application of silicon was conducted twice (3 wk after sowing and at flowering stage) at 1 or 2 kg ha À1 . The silicon application and PGPR inoculation countered the adverse effects of salinity on mung bean by decreasing proline, total phenols, and lignin contents in leaves and increasing the total soluble sugars in comparison to the control. Silicon and rhizobacteria also reduced Na þ content and increased K þ , Ca 2þ , and Si contents in shoots compared to the control under all salinity levels. Furthermore, the significant interaction between Si and PGPR increased the pod yield. Among the treatments, Si (2 kg ha À1 ) application and B. drentensis inoculation remained the most prominent for the studied traits at all salinity levels. Thus, the current study suggested that application of rhizobacteria along with Si mitigates the effects of salinity on mung bean by regulating osmolytes, reducing lignification, improving mineral uptake, and decreasing tissue Na þ content.

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.

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.

Long-term use of chemical fertilizers is affecting the environment, soil quality, and biodiversity. Organic agriculture is gaining global attention by using microbial-based biofertilizers. Carriers protect microbes by providing nutrition, energy, and suitable conditions for their survival while entering the natural environments. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the ability of different carrier materials to enhance the yield and the quality of spinach and to select the best carrier material for spinach biofertilizer. Three pre-isolated and characterized bacterial strains (AN-35, ZM-27, and ZM-63) were tested for their compatibility and used in this experiment through seed inoculation with organic carriers, i.e., compost, peat, press mud, biochar, and charcoal. A pot experiment and a field experiment were conducted to evaluate the efficacy of different organic carriers. The results of the pot study showed a significant increase in spinach growth, i.e., shoot length (25%), shoot fresh weight (24%), root length (25%), and root fresh weight (29%), spinach nutrition, i.e., nitrogen (18%), phosphorus (22%), potassium (15%), iron (17%), and zinc (14%), spinach physiology, i.e., relative water content (27%), chlorophyll content (9%), and the membrane stability index (28%) under peat coated treatments with 24% more soil microbial populations compared to the control. Similarly, in the field experiment, peat coating significantly enhanced spinach growth, i.e., shoot length (29%), shoot fresh weight (23%), root length (16%), and root fresh weight (24.7%), spinach nutrition, i.e., nitrogen (16%), phosphorus (19%), potassium (15%), iron (17%), and zinc (23%), spinach physiology, i.e., relative water content (28%), chlorophyll content (13%) and the membrane stability index (32%), and spinach yield per hectare (30%), as well as producing 20% higher soil microbial populations. From these results, it is concluded that peat is a good carrier material for biofertilizer production as it not only enhances crop production but also the microbial number, in addition to improving soil quality.

Zinc (Zn) biofortification in staple cereal grains is a low-cost and viable option to overcome the Zn deficiency in humans beings in developing countries. Intensive cropping with no/low micronutrient fertilization has resulted in soil Zn deficiency around the globe. Moreover, the Zn use efficiency of soils is usually low owing to its fixation into unavailable forms. Hence, the present study was conducted to investigate the integrated effects of urea coated with bioaugmented Zn on wheat growth, yield, and Zn biofortification. The bioaugmented Zn was prepared by inoculating ZnO with Bacillus sp. AZ6. Three levels (0.5, 1.0, and 1.5%) of ZnO, bioaugmented Zn, and bioaugmented Zn+organic material were coated on urea fertilizer and applied to investigate the performance of the wheat crop. The applied treatments were compared with absolute control and sole application of ZnSO 4 , and Bacillus sp. AZ6. Results revealed that the application of urea coated with 1.5% bioaugmented Zn significantly increased wheat growth, yield, and Zn biofortification as compared to the sole ZnSO 4 , and Bacillus sp. AZ6 treatments. The application of urea coated with 1.5% bioaugmented Zn improved the accumulation of Zn in shoots and grains by 83.3% and 144.0%, respectively, compared to absolute control. The increase in grain Zn content was owing to the significant reduction in grain phytic acid (69.9%) and phytate:Zn molar ratios (87.6%) compared to absolute control. Therefore, it was concluded that the application of urea coated with bioactivated ZnO can improve Zn biofortification in wheat grain by reducing phytic acid concentrations, consequently fulfilling human Zn needs through the consumption of such Zn enrich wheat grains.

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