Agronomic biofortification of zinc in different rice genotypes

Abstract

Zinc deficiency in soils and plants is a global micronutrient deficiency problem reported in many countries. Zinc deficiency can be corrected by enriching the food grains through fertilizer application to the plant in both soil and foliar method. A field experiment on agronomic biofortification with zinc in rice was carried out during thaladi season of 2013-14 and 2014-15 at Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore. The experiment was laid out in split plot design with three replications consisted of two zinc levels (-Zn and +Zn, 100 kg ZnSO4. 7 H2O ha-1 plus foliar spray @0.5%) in main plot and 18 rice genotypes in subplot. Soil and foliar application of zinc significantly increased the grain and straw yield and also the zinc concentration in processed rice grains. Based on the zinc concentration in processed rice the genotype Co43, Improved white ponni, ADT 38 and TRY 1 showed higher response for zinc application.