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Soil application of zinc fertilizer could achieve high yield and high grain zinc concentration in maize

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Abstract

Background and aims

Increasing both yield and grain zinc (Zn) concentration (GZC) are the two important goals of maize production in China and elsewhere in the world. However, it is not clear whether soil application of Zn fertilizer could realize high yield and GZC. The current study aimed to examine how soil Zn application affects yield and GZC and what is the optimal DTPA-Zn for high yield and GZC requirement.

Methods

A 3-year field experiment with Zn fertilizer application rates of 0, 10, 25, 50, 100, 150 kg ZnSO4•7H2O ha−1 was conducted.

Results

Soil Zn application significantly increased soil DTPA-Zn concentrations, maize yield, GZC and kernels number per spike; and decreased the length of barren ear tips. In each of these cases, the level of response was highly related to the quantity of Zn added to soil. The optimal soil DTPA-Zn concentration was 4.7 mg kg−1 required to attain high yields and was 7.6 mg kg−1 required to attain high GZC, respectively.

Conclusion

Soil Zn fertilization can increase simultaneously both grain yield and GZC and achieved the biofortification of maize with Zn, and its realization depended on the available Zn concentrations in soil.

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Acknowledgments

This research was funded by grants from the 973 Project (2015CB150402), the National Science Foundation of China (31672240), the China Agriculture Research System (CARS-02), and the Innovative Group Grant of National Science Foundation of China (31421092). We acknowledge Dr. Bruce Jaffee in USA for proof reading of manuscript and Prof. Mike McLaughlin for revising the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Plant-Soil Interactions, Ministry of Education; Center for Resources, Environment and Food Security, China Agricultural University, Beijing, 100193, People’s Republic of China

    Dun-Yi Liu, Wei Zhang, Peng Yan, Xin-Ping Chen, Fu-Suo Zhang & Chun-Qin Zou

  2. National Center for Tea Improvement, Key Laboratory of Tea Plant Biology and Resources Utilization, Ministry of Agriculture, Tea Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, 9 South Meiling Road, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, 310008, China

    Peng Yan

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  1. Dun-Yi Liu
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  2. Wei Zhang
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  3. Peng Yan
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  4. Xin-Ping Chen
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  5. Fu-Suo Zhang
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  6. Chun-Qin Zou
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Correspondence to Chun-Qin Zou.

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Responsible Editor: Mike McLaughlin.

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Liu, DY., Zhang, W., Yan, P. et al. Soil application of zinc fertilizer could achieve high yield and high grain zinc concentration in maize. Plant Soil 411, 47–55 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-016-3105-9

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