Journal of Agronomy and Field Innovations

Background: A global deficiency in zinc that affects more than 2 billion people is a serious health issue and causes limitations in wheat cultivation in poor land. Conventional zinc fertilizers are characterized by poor bioavailability and translocation to grain. Nano-zinc oxide (nano-ZnO) particles have some advantages such as significant surface area and chemical activity, which ensures their efficacy of utilization compared to bulk ZnSOâ‚„.
Objective: The experiment evaluated the influence of foliar and soil application of nano-zinc oxide on physiological characteristics, yield traits, and grain enrichment with zinc in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.).
Methods: A randomized complete block design pot experiment was carried out with application of four treatments: Control (without zinc), conventional ZnSOâ‚„ (15 mg L⁻¹), spray of nano-ZnO (10 mg L⁻¹), and spray of nano-ZnO (15 mg L⁻¹) with a number of replications equal to four. Measurements of the following parameters were done during crop physiological maturity: chlorophyll content, photosynthesis rate, stomatal conductance, relative water content, biomass accumulation, yield components, and grain zinc concentration.
Results: The experiment results show that the introduction of nano-ZnO has resulted in an increase in plant height (8–12%), leaf area index (15–19%), as well as chlorophyll and net photosynthetic effects by (18–24%) and (16–22%), respectively (P < 0.05). Grain yield of the plants got significantly higher (by 18–26%) under the influence of the nano-ZnO.
Conclusion: As a result of treatment with nano-ZnO, an improvement in the Zn concentration in grains occurred – this number increased from 24.8 mg kg⁻¹ (control) to 38.7 mg kg⁻¹ (nano-ZnO, 15 mg L⁻¹), noted by the text as being already greater than the minimum biofortification level set by the World Health Organization (35 mg kg⁻¹). Nano-ZnO showed better performance results than ZnSOâ‚„ in the experimental study.