Micronutrient deficiencies in soil, as it not only leads to declining crop yields but also contributes to poor quality of produce, leading to dietary micronutrient deficiencies in human beings. In many micronutrient-deficient regions, wheat is the dominant staple food making up >50% of the diet. Agronomic biofortification with application of microbial inoculants and fertilizers to improve the nutritional quality of foods is a new approach being used to improve the nutrient content of a variety of staple crops. The present field experiments were conducted during rabi 2021-22 and rabi 2022-23 at research farm of Soil Science and Agricultural Chemistry, VNMKV, Parbhani to evaluate the iron and zinc solubilizing microbes as novel tool for biofortification in wheat. Experiment consists of thirty-six treatment combinations which includes four iron and zinc solubilizing inoculants (Control, Pseudomona striata, Pseudomona fluorescens and Bacillus megaterium), three levels of iron sulphate (0, 20, and 40 kg FeSO4 ha-1) and three levels of zinc sulphate (0,20, and 40 kg ZnSO4 ha-1) which were replicated twice in factorial complete randomized block design. The results indicated significant effect of microbial cultures and graded levels of FeSO4 and ZnSO4 on plant height, number of leaves, number of tillers and leaf area and total chlorophyll content of leaves of wheat crop. Microbial inoculants especially Pseudomona striata and iron and zinc level upto 40 kg ha-1 each found effective on growth parameters. The significant effect of microbial inoculants and graded levels of iron sulphate and zinc sulphate was seen on grain yield and straw yield of wheat. Highest grain and straw yield reported with Pseudomona striata i.e 2968 kg ha-1 grain yield and 5331 kg ha-1 straw yield. Further, 40 kg FeSO4 reported maximum grain yield (2975 kg ha-1) and straw yield (5612 kg ha-1). Similarly, 40 kg ZnSO4 ha-1 observed higher grain yield (2971 kg ha-1) and straw yield (5530 kg ha-1). Quality of wheat grains was also influenced by application of Pseudomona striata and 40 kg zinc and iron sulphate each ha-1.

Microbial inoculants, wheat, iron sulphate, zinc sulphate, Pseudomona

From the results it can be concluded that application of microbial inoculants particularly Pseudomona striata and 40 kg FeSO4 kg ha-1 and 40 kg FeSO4 kg ha-1 significantly increases growth parameters like plant height, number of tillers, number of leaves, leaf area and chlorophyll content. Also, significant increase in yield and quality parameter with application of Pseudomona striata and 40 kg FeSO4 ha-1 and 40 kg FeSO4 ha-1 along with recommended dose of fertilizers.

Priya Satwadhar, Syed Ismail, Dhamak A.L. and Kalpande H.V. (2023). Agronomic Biofortification of Iron and Zinc and its Effect on Growth, Yield and Quality of Wheat Crop. Biological Forum – An International Journal, 15(11): 513-519.