Biofortification of wheat with zinc through zinc fertilization in seven countries

Valuing increased zinc (Zn) fertiliser-use in Pakistan

“…This represents an areanormalised potential yield increase of 9 % for Punjab and Sindh combined. These survey data are therefore consistent with median yield increases of 16 % following soil Zn application in six site-years in Pakistan (Zou et al 2012) and 10-11 % from applications of Zn fertilisers to maize, rice and wheat in a recent global literature review ). The potential increases in grain Zn concentration in wheat resulting from granular and foliar Zn fertiliser-use were taken from this same review.…”

Combined zinc and nitrogen fertilization in different bread wheat genotypes grown under mediterranean conditions

“…Foliar application, in both Foliar and Soil + Foliar treatments, produced increases in Zn contents of about 2.8 times respecting non-fertilized plots, achieving an average concentration higher than 48.4 mg Zn kg -1 . Lower increases were found by Zhang et al (2012), of about 26-115% and 68%, respectively, with foliar applications, or by Zou et al (2012), of about 83.5% with Soil + Foliar applications but similar with Gomez-Coronado et al (2016) in the same region. However, when one foliar Zn application was substituted by urea, Zn contents was on average 31-32 mg kg -1 , supposing an increase of more than 1.8 times with respect to non-fertilized plots, but without reaching the target levels in any case Cereal Research Communications 45, 2017 ( Table 3).…”

“…Foliar Zn application, alone or in combination with soil Zn application, is the most efficient technique to increase significantly wheat grain Zn content, in both Zn-sufficient and Zn-deficient soils (Cakmak et al 2010;Zhang et al 2012;Zou et al 2012). In fact, previous studies have shown that foliar Zn application is effective decreasing the phytate:Zn ratio and increasing estimated Zn bioavailability Gomez-Coronado et al 2016).…”

Fortification of micronutrients for efficient agronomic production: a review

“…Regarding the first scenario, the increased crop biomass, grain yield, and/or harvest index (i.e., ratio of grain biomass to total biomass) often accompanying NPK application to high-yielding crop varieties would cause a dilution of the micronutrient concentrations in the aerial plant parts, thus reducing the amount ultimately translocated to edible portions of the crop, especially grains (Garvin et al 2006;Fan et al 2008). The positive results obtained in several countries, particularly in Turkey, where the deployment of Zn fertilization, and experimenting with timing and routes of application in wheat and rice, have resulted in dramatic simultaneous outcomes for crop yield and nutritional quality, illustrate the power of Zn micronutrient fertilization to address the widespread Zn deficiency in soils and, consequently, in humans (Cakmak 2008;Cakmak et al 2010;Phattarakul et al 2012;Zou et al 2012). While these findings with Zn indicate that micronutrient fertilizers may be critical in fighting hidden hunger, they require continuous empirical evidence such as through efficacy trials with all micronutrients and most staple crops.…”