| Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4509086 | European Journal of Agronomy | 2013 | 8 Pages |
•Foliar spray of Zn at early anthesis had no effect on yield and grain Cd content.•Foliar spray of Zn at mid tillering, in general, increased yield and decreased grain Cd and Zn content.•Effect of soil application of ZnSO4 on grain Zn concentrations was genotypic-dependent.•Soil applied rubber ash was the most effective treatment to ameliorate Zn deficiency.•Soil applied rubber ash increased Zn and decreased Cd concentration in wheat grains of most wheat genotypes.
The aims of these field experiments were to investigate the effectiveness of soil application of rubber tire ash in comparison with soil and foliar applications of zinc (Zn) sulfate to increase Zn and decrease cadmium (Cd) concentrations in wheat grain. A two-year field experiment was conducted during the 2007–2008 and 2007–2008 growing seasons at Isfahan research field, Iran. Ten different Zn-efficiency bread wheat cultivars (Triticum aestivum L.) commonly cultivated in different parts of Iran were subjected to no Zn fertilizer addition (control), soil application of 40 kg ha−1 ZnSO4, soil application of 100 (for the first year) and 250 (for the second year) kg ha−1 waste rubber tire ash, foliar application of Zn at the mid tillering stage, and foliar application of Zn at the early anthesis stage. In the foliar application, ZnSO4 was sprayed at a rate of 0.66 kg Zn/ha. Foliar spray of zinc sulfate at early anthesis, in general, had no significant effect on the yield and grain Cd while significantly increased grain Zn concentrations of most cultivars. On average, the foliar Zn treatment at the mid tillering stage (0.66 kg Zn/ha), decreased the mean grain Cd concentration from 0.032 mg kg−1 in the control treatment to 0.024 mg kg−1. While the grain Zn concentrations of some cultivars increased with soil application of Zn sulfate, they were not affected or even decreased in other cultivars. For most studied wheat cultivars, pre-planting application of rubber tire ash in soil resulted in a significant decrease of grain Cd concentrations. The results show that the effectiveness of soil and foliar application of Zn on yield and grain Zn and Cd concentrations greatly depends on the cultivar. The currently recommended rates of soil applications of Zn to ameliorate Zn deficiency are sufficient to increase grain Zn and decrease grain Cd concentrations in some wheat cultivars, while they do not in the others. In this study, soil application of 250 kg rubber tire ash/ha and foliar spray of 0.66 kg Zn/ha at tillering stage were the most effective treatments to ameliorate Zn deficiency and to increase Zn and decrease Cd concentration in grains of most wheat cultivars.
