Critical soil level of zinc for wheat grown in alkaline soils

Abstract

Wheat plants were grown to study the effect of Zn application in a screen house experiment involving 19 alkaline soils having a range of DTPA extractable Zn and widely divergent physical and chemical properties. Soil Zn was positively correlated with organic carbon, clay, Olsen's P and Bray's per cent yield (r = 0.54^*, 0.67^**, 0.54^* and 0.84^**) respectively. There was a significant increase in the leaf, grain and total dry matter yield of plants due to Zn fertilization but no such effect was obvious in stem. Concentration of Zn in different plant parts increased significantly with its application in all the soils irrespective of the initial Zn status. Statistical method indicated 0.65 mg kg⁻¹ as the critical level of Zn in alkaline soils below which responses to Zn fertilization may be expected in case of wheat.