Effect of Zinc Fertilization on Yield, Zinc Biofortification and Indices of Wheat Varieties

Abstract

A field experiment was conducted during winter (rabi) season of 2017–18 at Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh to study the effect of zinc fertilization on yield and zinc concentration of wheat varieties. The experiment was laid out in a randomized block design (factorial) with 7 wheat varieties (HUW 234,V1; HUW 510,V2; HUW 468,V3; HD 2967,V4; PBW 343,V5; PBW 373,V6; and PBW 154,V7) and 2 zinc levels (0 kg Zn ha-1, Z0; and 5 kg Zn ha-1,Z1). HUW 234 and application of zinc @ 5 kg/ha recorded significantly higher effective tillers, 1,000-grain weight, yield, zinc uptake, partial factor productivity (PFP), agronomic efficiency (AE) and recovery efficiency (RE) over the other treatments. Varieties and zinc levels also interacted positively and highest effective tillers, ear length, test weight and grain yield was obtained with V1 × Z1; however, the longest ear length (17.37 cm) was obtained with PBW 154 + 5 kg Zn ha-1 while highest number of grains per spike was recorded with HUW 468 + 5 kg Zn ha-1.