Enhancement of Wheat Productivity and Zinc Accumulation Through Integrated Use of Zinc and Beneficial Microbes Under Irrigated and Rainfed Conditions

Zinc (Zn) is an imperative micro-nutrient for plant growth and development. Zinc is deficient all over the world, particularly in the developing countries and Zn sulfate is supplied as a source of Zn fertilizer. However, maximum part of the applied Zn sulfate become fixed in the soil and unavailable to plant. Plant growth promoting bacteria improving the crop growth and yield on sustainable basis. Inoculation of bacterial strains used is an effective technology, but limited research is available under field conditions. Therefore, field experiment was conducted under irrigated and rainfed conditions to evaluate the inoculation effect of indigenous beneficial microbes (BM) on wheat growth, yield and Zn accumulation. Different treatment combinations (0, 4, 8, 12, 16, and 20 kg Zn ha-1 without and with BM) were used on two wheat varieties (Wadaan-17 and Zincol-16). Results revealed that inoculating BM with chemical Zn fertilizer significantly (P <= .05) boosted yield and Zn accumulation in grain and straw. In irrigated conditions, yield increased by 33%, Zn accumulation in grain by 141% and in straw by 98.2%, but in rainfed conditions, yield increased by 38.9% Zn accumulation in grain by 130% and in straw by 123%. Compared to Zincol-16, Wadaan-17 performed better in terms of yield and Zn accumulation under both irrigated and rainfed conditions. The study concluded that inoculation of certain BM might reduce the rate at which chemical Zn fertilizer was used in both irrigated and rainfed conditions and could be employed as potential bio-inoculants.