Wheat is one of the major staple foods for approximately 40% of the world’s population living in developing countries. However, fixation reactions reduce zinc bioavailability in soils with low organic matter, high carbonate content, and high pH, causing calcite adsorption or Zn(OH) 2 or ZnCO 3 precipitation, making conventional fertilizers ineffective for crop zinc uptake. Conventionally, mineral ZnSO 4 fertilizers are most commonly used because of their high solubility and low price. However, Zn deficiency could be reduced in plants by following various practices, i.e., supplementary application, using diverse diets, and food and crop plants bio-fortification. The World Health Organization’s recommended daily intake of Zn for an adult human is 15 mg day −1 however, around 25% of the world’s population, mostly in developing countries, is less than that amount. Nutritional deficiency reduces production and adversely affects the crop quality required for proper human nutrition therefore, improving grain Zn content would reduce the intensity of Zn deficiency-associated health problems in humans. Resultantly, low Zn crops produced on such soils do not meet human bodily and functional requirements, which results in various health issues. Zn deficiency is most common in alkaline calcareous soils having low phyto-available Zn concentration, comprising around 50% of the agricultural land in the world. Low soil availability is a major hurdle to achieving high crop production. Among essential plant nutrients, Zn is one widely deficient micronutrient in cereal-based cropping system areas. Thus, various Oxozinc nanofibers application modes may be recommended for wheat biofortification either separately or in combination with ZnSO 4 in Zn deficient calcareous soils for improved Zn nourishment.Īlkaline calcareous soils with continuous cereals cultivation have decreased crop productivity and quality due to declining soil fertility in developing countries. Additionally, the combined ZnO NF and ½ZnSO 4 (foliar spray, seed coating, or seed priming) maximized the crop Zn accumulation, wherein the ½ZnSO 4 + ZnO NF through foliar application exceeded grain Zn biofortification. These results elucidated that Zn nutrition with ZnONF was either at par with or higher than the conventional ZnSO 4 fertilizer application despite significantly reduced ZnO NF quantity, irrespective of the application method used. Moreover, at the combined ZnO NF and ½ZnSO 4 application, further improvements for spike length, number of spikelets spike −1, grain, leaf, root, and stem Zn concentrations, as well as their respective Zn contents, were noted. ![]() The highest Zn uptake efficiency (34%) for nanofibers was obtained for theseed primed, followed by seed coating (23%) and foiar application (7%), respectively. ![]() The application of ZnO NF significantly improved wheat plant growth as evidenced by increased plant height (14.5%), spikelets per spike (13.7%), and Zn use efficacy (611%) regardless of application methods as compared to control. The conventional ZnSO 4 fertilizer recommended dose (5.5 µg Zn kg −1 of soil) was used for comparison and applied through soil addition, foliar spray, and seed priming, while the ZnO NF was applied through foliar spray, seed coating, and seed priming 0.5 kg ha −1) either alone or in combination with ½ZnSO 4 applied to the soil. Pots in triplicate (each with 7 kg soil) were arranged in a completely randomized design with a control treatment without Zn application. Oxozinc nanofiber (ZnONF) was evaluated for wheat Zn biofortification using different application methods to tackle this issue. Conventional application of Zn sulfate (ZnSO 4) fertilizer through soil application attains minimal Zn efficiency as it is readily fixed in such soils. ![]() Low Zinc (Zn) availability in alkaline calcareous soil is one of the major causes of low cereal yield and quality.
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