Agronomic Bio-fortification of Zinc Improves the Yield and Quality of Fodder Oat

Oat is an important winter fodder crop grown on large areas all over the world. Oat is good source of nutrition and energy but it is poor in zinc contents. Presently livestock is suffering from malnutrition due to deficiency of zinc which has greater impact on livestock and ultimately on human health. Easy and cost effective approach to add nutrient in plant without altering its genetic makeup is agronomic bio fortification. Application of nutrient to oat via bio-fortification may enhance the overall biomass production and quality of fodder. Hence, a field study was performed to understand the impact of bio-fortification with zinc on quality along with biomass production of oat. Treatment comprised of control (No Zn), Zn @ 4kg soil application, Zn @ 6kg soil application, Zn @ 8kg soil application, Zn @ 4kg soil application + 0.5% zinc sulphate as foliar application, Zn @ 6kg soil application + 0.5% zinc sulphate as foliar application and Zn @ 8kg soil application + 0.5% zinc sulphate as foliar application. Study revealed that Zn at 6kg soil application + 0.5% zinc sulphate foliar application produced maximum plant height (207.7 cm), leaf area index (15.78), crop growth rate (9.1 gm-2day-1), stem diameter (0.073 cm), number of tillers (204), fresh fodder yield (76.6 t ha-1), dry matter yield (32.27 t ha-1), ash contents (10.3%) and plant zinc contents (70.0 ppm). Control treatment produced maximum crude fiber contents (40.70%), acid detergent fiber contents (35.77%) and neutral detergent fiber contents (72.71%). In conclusion, bio fortification of zinc not only enhanced the biomass and yield of oat but it also increased the availability of zinc in plant.