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Iron (Fe) malnutrition in humans is a global concern which can be revised by improved Fe density in staple crops. A field experiment was performed to evaluate the effect of chelated iron on growth, yield and iron concentration in bread wheat (cv. Moomal) at Tando Jam Pakistan. The treatments included, Control (No Fe-EDTA), Soil supplement of Fe-EDTA (@ 2 kg Fe ha-1), Soil + foliar supplement of Fe-EDTA (@ 2 kg ha-1 and 0.2% Fe at booting, flowering, and milky stage), and Foliar supplement of Fe-EDTA (@ 0.2% Fe at booting, flowering and milky stages). The defined growth and yield traits of wheat were increased with Fe-EDTA applications over control treatment. Among different Fe-EDTA application methods, there was no significant difference for most of the growth and yield parameters (excluding spike length, number of spikelets spike-1, and 1000 grain weight). The amount of Fe in wheat grains was significantly higher in all Fe-EDTA treatments over control, with maximum value (86.54 ± 5.57 mg kg-1) in the treatment where Fe-EDTA was applied in soil + foliar. Similarly, a high Fe build up in surface soil was obtained with treatment of Fe-EDTA in soil + foliar. Overall, with various Fe-EDTA treatments, an increase of 21.2 to 29.1% in grain yield and 1.9 to 4.3 times in Fe concentration of wheat grains was achieved in current study. It is suggested that the Fe should be included in wheat production technology to attain better yield and Fe concentration in grains. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rice (Oryza sativa L.) is the most important cereal crop in the world and it is used as a staple food for over one-third world's population. Salinity is one of the major abiotic stresses, which is reducing the yield of rice crop in the world. The tolerance level of five native non-aromatic, coarse rice cultivars (IR-6, IR-8, DR-82, DR-83 and DR-92) was tested in the current study. A local nursery was established for each cultivar and healthy seedlings were shifted in isolated hydroponic plastic tubs containing the Hoagland solution and 0 (control), 40, 80, 120 and 160 mM of NaCl concentrations. Amongst the five rice cultivars, DR-92 performed better in terms of survival percentage, average plant height, shoot dry weight, percent reduction over control (PROC) for plant height and shoot dry weight, the accumulation of less Na+ and more K+ as well as the higher K+/Na+ ratio in shoot dry matter, than rest of the cultivars at low to high salt-stress (NaCl) conditions. The results show that the non-aromatic rice cultivar DR-92 can survive and give better yield in moderately (40-120 mM NaCl) saline soils. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Zinc (Zn) malnutrition in humans can be minimized by agronomic biofortification of cereal crops. Hence, a field experiment was executed to study the effects of Zn fertilization techniques on grain yield, Zn concentration and bioavailability in rice grains of two genotypes (NIA-Mehran and Shandar). The treatments involved control (No Zn), soil application (10 kg Zn ha-1), foliar application twice (0.3% Zn at booting, and one week after flowering), and foliar application thrice (0.3% Zn at booting, one week and two weeks after flowering). The Zn fertilization enhanced grain yield to 30%, Zn concentration in polished rice up to 3.3 times and 2.5 times in brown rice, while decreased phytic acid (PA) concentration to 40.7% over control treatment. The Zn application enhanced Zn bioavailability by lowering PA: Zn molar ratios to 79% in polished rice, 69% in brown rice, and increased total daily absorbed Zn (TAZ) to 4.7 times in polished rice and 3.7 times in brown rice over control. Among Zn applications, the maximum grain yield (9.11 ± 0.03 t ha-1), Zn concentrations (32.17 ± 0.37 mg kg-1 in polished rice and 55.74 ± 0.33 mg kg-1 in brown rice) and TAZ (1.03 ± 0.35 mg Zn day-1 in polished rice and 1.65 ± 0.03 mg Zn day-1 in brown rice) while the lesser PA concentrations (8.49 ± 0.05 g kg-1 in polished rice and 9.76 ± 0.33 g kg-1) and PA to Zn molar ratios (27.40 ± 0.24 in polished rice and 17.24 ± 0.34 in brown rice) were recorded with foliar application thrice. The target level of Zn in polished rice for effective biofortification (28 mg kg-1), and the minimum PA: Zn molar ratio (< 18) was nearly met in brown rice with foliar fertilization (3x). The required TAZ (3 mg Zn day-1) was covered up to 53% with ingestion of brown rice and 33% with polished rice. Both genotypes performed similar for grain yield, Zn and PA concentrations, and Zn bioavailability parameters. We recommend that foliar Zn fertilization should be adopted in rice husbandry and humans should preferably consume brown rice to minimize Zn malnutrition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mitigation of greenhouse gas (GHGs) emissions and improving soil health using biochar (BC) shall help achieving the UN-Sustainable Development Goals. The impacts of walnut shells biochar (WSB) pyrolyzed at different temperatures on CO 2 and N 2 O emission and soil health have not been yet sufficiently explored. We investigated the effects of addition of WSB pyrolyzed at either 300 °C (WSB-300), 450 °C (WSB-450), or at 600 °C (WSB-600) to alkaline soil on CO 2 and N 2 O emissions, nutrients availability, and soil enzymes activities in a 120-day incubation experiment. Cumulative N 2 O emissions were reduced significantly as compared to the control, by 64.9%, 50.6%, and 36.4% after WSB-600, WSB-450 and WSB-300, respectively. However, the cumulative CO 2 emissions increased, over the control, as follows: WSB-600 (50.7%), WSB-450 (68.6%), and WSB-300 (73.4%). Biochar addition, particularly WSB-600 significantly increased soil pH (from 8.1 to 8.34), soil organic C (SOC; from 8.6 to 22.3 g kg -1 ), available P (from 21.0 to 60.5 mg kg -1 ), and K (181.0-480.5 mg kg -1 ), and activities of urease, alkaline phosphatase, and invertase. However, an opposite pattern was observed with NH 4 + , NO 3 - , total N and β-glucosidase activity after WSB application. The WBS produced from high temperature pyrolysis can be used for N 2 O emissions mitigation and improvement of soil pH, SOC, available P and K, and activities of urease, alkaline, phosphatase. However, WBS produced from low temperature pyrolysis can be used to promote N availability and β-glucosidase; however, these findings should be verified under different field and climatic conditions., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)