Agronomic Biofortification of Zinc in Wheat

Abstract

Intensive cropping system with imbalance use of fertilizers are responsible for declining soil health, underground water table, declining land and water productivity, emergence of new micronutrient deficiencies, new weed flora, and resistance to herbicides especially in emerging countries. This is further intensified when micronutrients particularly zinc (Zn), which is essential for human health, particularly in developing countries. Zn biofortification is a strategy for improving the intrinsic Zn content of the edible portion of plants via application of Zn-enriched fertilizers to soil or by foliar application at a predetermined stage and a proper dose. The most common cereal in the human diet is wheat, which make it most suitable targets for agronomic biofortification. The concentration of Zn in wheat grain is genotype-dependent and interacts with the environment, causing variation in micronutrient concentrations. Given Zn's importance in cereal-based nutrition, zinc biofortification seems to to be an innovative technology for alleviating zinc deficiency in human health, particularly on the Indian subcontinent, by applying Zn as a foliar or soil application.