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Effect of different Zinc sources and methods of application on rice yield and
nutrients concentration in rice grain and straw

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Rana and Kashif, 2014, 1:9
Journal of Environmental and Agricultural Sciences
ISSN: 2313-8629

Research Article Open Access

Effect of different Zinc sources and methods of application on rice yield and
nutrients concentration in rice grain and straw
Waleed Khaliq Rana*, Saifur Rehman Kashif
Institute of Soil and Environmental Sciences, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad-38040 (Pakistan)
Abstract: Zinc (Zn) is essential micronutrient for plants, animals and humans. Zn deficiency is widely spread in
paddy soils of Pakistan, and has negative impact of national rice production. A field experiment was conducted at the
research area of the Institute of Soil and Environmental Sciences, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad to compare
rice (Oryza sativa L.) yield and nutrients components i.e., nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), potassium (K) and Zn, of
paddy and straw in response to Zinc sulfate (ZnSO4.H2O), Zinc sulfate heptahydrate (ZnSO4.7H2O), Zn-ethylene
diamine tetraacetate (Zn-EDTA) and zinc oxide (ZnO) as Zn sources which were either incorporated into the soil or
applied as foliar spray 14 days after rice transplantation (DAT). Zn application significantly increased the
Chlorophyll contents, tillers m–2, total biomass and paddy yield, as well as the Zn concentration in the grain and the
straw, except P content in the paddy and straw. Zn-EDTA incorporated in soil (10.0 kg ha–1) resulted in greater
values for these parameters as compared to other sources of Zn application. Among the method of Zn application,
soil application resulted in higher yield, biomass, N and K contents in the grain and straw. Foliar application caused
greater P concentration in both grain and straw, however, chlorophyll, K contents in paddy remained unaffected by
method of Zn application. Zn-EDTA proved to be the most efficient source of Zn for rice production.
Key words: Foliar application, rice, micronutrients, zinc
Received: August 25, 2014; Revised: October15, 2014; Accepted October 12, 2014, Online November 21, 2014
*Corresponding author: Waleed Khaliq Rana; Email: ranawaleed@[Link]

1. Introduction relatively high but a small fraction of it is available to

plants (Mandal et al., 1992). In addition to high-
Rice (Oryza sativa L.) is the staple food for 50% yielding cultivars and heavy fertilizer inputs, Zn
of the world population. Global rice production in deficiency in rice may also induced by several other
2008 was 661.811 million tones, and about 95 % of factors, including high soil pH, excess bicarbonate
the rice is produced and consumed in developing and low redox potential. Zinc concentration is
countries especially in Asia (FAO, 2008; Rehmani et decreased at high pH. If pH of soil increased then Zn
al., 2014). In Pakistan rice is the second largest food concentration decreased 100 fold by one unit
crop after wheat (Triticum aestivum L.), its increased in pH (Chand et al., 1981; Nadeem et al.,
contribution in value added and gross domestic 2013). Adsorption of Zn to clay and CaCO3 under
product is 1.1% and 5.5. Rice is grown on 2.515 high pH is the primary reason of reduced availability
million hectares and its production is 5.56 million of Zn in calcareous soils (Broadley et al., 2007).
tons (GOP, 2008).
It is therefore likely that several tolerance
High-yielding varieties and greater fertilizer mechanisms need to be combined if a genotype is to
inputs were the strategies to raise the crop yield fully overcome the effects of Zn deficiency (Widodo
potential and feed increasing population. Increased et al., 2010).
application of fertilizers were not sufficient to
compensate over-use of cultivated land. High- In biological systems Zn is enjoying unique status
yielding varieties rapidly depleted soil micronutrients, of being the only metal which is the component of
therefore recent literature witnessed Zn deficiency, enzymes of all six enzyme classes, i.e.,
along with Iron (Fe), vitamin A, and Iodine (I) oxidoreductases, transferases, hydrolases, lyases,
deficiency. Micronutrient deficiency is considered as isomerases and ligases (Broadley et al., 2007) Zinc
a major threat to the global and regional food security plays a very important regulatory role in various
(Ezzati et al., 2002). metabolic processes of plants including carbohydrate
metabolism, cell wall development, gene expression,
The concentration of Zn in average soils ranged protein synthesis and respiration (Klug and Rhodes,
from 10 to 300 mg kg-1 (Mengel and Kirkby, 1987). 1987; Broadley et al., 2007).
In spite of the fact that the total soil Zn content is
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 Rana and Kashif, 2014. JEAS. 1:9 (ISSN: 2313-8629)

Rice is sensitive low Zn condition which is received 110 kg ha-1 N as urea, 90 kg ha-1 of P as
common in submerged paddy soils therefore; Zn P2O5 and 60 kg ha-1 of K as K2O. Full dose of P
deficiency frequently occurs (Hazra et al., 1987). and K was applied one day before transplantation,
Zinc deficient rice plants show poor ability root urea was applied in two split application: the first
respiration during especially under flooded paddy split was applied at 55 kg N ha-1 one day before
soils (Slaton et al., 2001). Application of zinc salts transplantation and the second split was applied
e.g., zinc sulphate is a common practice to correct Zn at 55 kg N ha-1 14 days after transplantation
deficiency. Moreover,Zn chelates, such as Zinc (DAT). The experiment included 10 treatments
ethylene diamine tetra acetic acid (Zn-EDTA), which (Table 1).
supply significant amount of Zn to the plant without
interacting with soil components. In Zn-EDTA Zn ion [Link], method and rates of nutrient
(Zn2+) is surrounded by chelated ligands (Mortvedt, application.
1979). Efficient uptake and transport of
micronutrients to the grains can be increased by foliar Zn Zn
NPK
Zn source Applicatio (kg
application of micronutrient containing fertilizers. (kg ha-1)
n ha-1)
Therefore, like other micronutrients, foliar application
of Zn is considered as potential method to ameliorate
Zn deficiency in cereal grains (Cakmak, 2008: Fang T1 0 - - -
et al., 2008)
This study was aimed to investigate the effects of
T2 110:90:60 - - -
different sources of zinc applied through soil or foliar T3 110:90:60 ZnSO4.H2O Soil 12.5
method on rice yield dynamics and nutrients status in
T4 110:90:60 ZnSO4.7H2O Soil 20
paddy grains and straw. Results of this study will help
to mitigate zinc deficiency in rice and improve zinc T5 110:90:60 Zn-EDTA Soil 10
use efficiency in the rice paddies. T6 110:90:60 ZnO Soil 5
T7 110:90:60 ZnSO4.H2O Foliar 1.6
2. Material and Methods
Experiment was conducted at the research T8 110:90:60 ZnSO4.7H2O Foliar 2.5
area of the Institute of Soil and Environmental T9 110:90:60 Zn-EDTA Foliar 1.0
Sciences, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad. T10 110:90:60 ZnO Foliar 0.65
a
Soil samples were taken, in bulk from 0-30 cm T1, absolute control; T2, Zn-control; T3-T6 Zn incorporated in
depth, before rice transplantation to analyze the soil; T7-T10, Zn applied as foliar spray
physico-chemical characteristics using methods Zinc sources were applied in soil after 14
of Page et al. (1982) with slight modifications DAT. For foliar spray 0.2 % Zn solution of above
(Table 1). mentioned zinc sources was dissolved in 0.1 %
Table 1: Physico-chemical characteristics of the soil at HCl and applied 14 DAT. All other agronomic
experimental site practices were kept same and uniform for all the
Parameter Value treatments. Data on following parameters were
collected for analysis.
Texture Loamy
pH 70.93 Rice chlorophyll contents were determined by
ECe (dSm-1) 2.57 using chlorophyll content meter (CCM-200,
Organic matter (%) 0.75
Apogeee, USA). Average number of tillers m-2
Total Nitrogen (mg kg-1) 0.08
Avalable Phosphorus (mg kg-1) 7.49 from each experimental unit was calculated per
Extractable Potassium (mg kg-1) 132.2 square meter. At physiological maturity rice
DTPA extractable Zn (mg kg-1) 0.39 plants were manually harvested from 1m2, in the
center of each plot, and these plants were used to
The experiment was laid out in a determine total biomass, grain and straw yield
randomized complete block design (RCBD) (Rehmani et al., 2014). After measuring total
having 4 replications. Nursery of indica rice biomass (t ha-1), paddy grains were manually
(variety: super) was sown on 10 June 2009 and threshed and carefully separated from straw.
transplanted on 29 June 2009 in plots, each of an Separated paddy grains were weighed to calculate
area of 20 m2. All plots (except absolute control)

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 Rana and Kashif, 2014. JEAS. 1:9 (ISSN: 2313-8629)

paddy yield (t ha-1). Straw yield was obtained by various treatments had significant effect (P < 0.05) on
subtracting paddy yield from total biomass. chlorophyll content (Fig. 1B). The highest value
(34.05 CCI) was obtained in T5 (Zn-EDTA was
3. Results and Discussion applied @ 10.00 kg ha-1 in soil) followed value
3.1 Number of tillers (32.83 CCI) of T10 (ZnO was applied @ 0.650 kg ha-1
In cereals, tillering capacity is one of the main as foliar). The minimum value (29.90 CCI) was
components of grain yield. Higher yield potential can obtained in T1 (No fertilizer, no zinc).
be achieved by greater tillers per plant. The data
regarding the number of tillers as influenced by Zn
application is presented in Fig. 1.A. Zn application
significantly increased number of tillers per plant (P <
0.05).

Figure 1. Number of tillers, chlorophyll content, total biomass

and paddy yield as affected by soil and foliar applications of
different sources of zinc. Values are means of three replicate
plots. Means with different letters are statistically different
from each other at 5% level.

Among the Zn sources, soil applied Zn-EDTA

(10.0 kg ha-1) produced maximum number of tillers
per plant (145 tillers), which was significantly
different from all other treatments. Minimum of 60 Figure 2. Nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium and zinc contents in
rice paddy and straw as affected by soil and foliar applications
tillers per plant were observed under treatment T1 of different sources of zinc. Values are means of three
(without fertilizer) followed by T2 (recommended replicate plots. Means with different letters are statistically
N:P2O5:K2O @ 110:90:60 kg ha-1). In case of foliar different from each other at 5% level.
Zn application, T9 produced significantly higher (131)
number of tillers m-2, when Zn-EDTA was applied @ 3.3 Biomass
The data on biomass of rice is presented in Fig.
1.00 kg ha-1, which was statistically similar to other
1C. The statistical analysis of the data showed that
Zn sources applied as foliar fertilizer, except T10
effect of the treatments on biomass was significant (P
(ZnO @ 0.65 kg ha-1). Increased tiller production can
< 0.05). The maximum biomass ton ha-1 was recorded
be attributed to Zn induced enzymatic activity and
in T5 (5.61) when Zn-EDTA was applied @ 10.00 kg
auxin metabolism in plants. These results are similar
ha-1 in soil followed by T3 (5.28) when ZnSO4.H2O
to the findings of Ghani et al. (1990).
was applied @ 12.50 kg ha-1 and T6 (5.22) when ZnO
3.2 Chlorophyll content was applied @ 5.00 kg ha-1 in soil as compared to T1
Content of plant pigments like chlorophyll (2.72). Srivastava et al. (1999) also presented similar
determines color and appearance, and is an indicator findings.
of plant health (Abbot, 1999). Zn is proposed to be 3.4 Paddy yield
involved in chlorophyll formation through regulation The impact of various sources and method of Zn
of nutrients homeostasis in cytoplasm (Aravind and application on paddy yield were evaluated (Fig 1D).
Prasad, 2004). The analysis of the data showed that The statistical analysis for paddy yield showed that
3
 Rana and Kashif, 2014. JEAS. 1:9 (ISSN: 2313-8629)

Zn treatments resulted in significant increase (P < (2000), they reported that K concentration of both
0.05) in the paddy yield. The maximum paddy yield paddy and straw showed increasing trend with Zn
ton ha-1 was recorded in T5 (2.78) when Zn-EDTA fertilizer application.
was applied @ 10.00 kg ha-1 in soil followed by T3 3.8 Zinc content in paddy and straw
(2.62) when ZnSO4.H2O was applied @ 12.50 kg ha-1 The data on the zinc concentration in paddy is
and T6 (2.59) when ZnO was applied @ 5.00 kg ha-1 presented in Fig. 2 G and H. Zinc concentration in
as compared to control T1 (1.34). This result is in both paddy and straw significantly enhanced by Zn
arrangement with the finding of Karak et al. (2005) application as compared to absolute control (T1) and
who reported that Zn chelates proved to be most Zn-control (T2) (P < 0.05). Different sources of Zn
efficient Zn source for rice in calcareous paddy soils. were statistically similar except Zn-EDTA application.
3.5 Nitrogen content in paddy and straw Maximum Zn contents in paddy (123.18 ppm) and
The data on N content in paddy and straw are straw (120.5 ppm) were observed in T5 (Zn-EDTA
presented in Fig.2A & 2B. The N content in paddy applied @ 10.00 kg ha-1 in soil), while minimum Zn
and straw were significantly (P < 0.05) increased with content in paddy (111.07 ppm) and straw (108.9 ppm)
Zn application over both absolute and Zn-control. were observed in T1 (Absolute control). Stunted
Maximum N content in paddy (5.02 %) and straw growth of rice plants under Zn deficient conditions
(2.22 %) were recorded in T5 (Zn-EDTA applied @ may reduce Zn uptake and ultimately compromised
10.00 kg ha-1 in soil). The minimum N content in Zn concentration in paddy and straw. These results
paddy (2.10 %) and straw (0.97 %) were observed are in agreement with the finding of Devarajan and
under absolute control (T1). Concentration of N in Ramanathan (1995).
paddy grains was higher as compared to straw, under
all applied treatments. These results are in agreement 4. Conclusion
with findings of Singh et al. (1990) and Takkar Our results shows that rice under climatic
(1996). conditions of Faisalabad, Pakistan, Zn-EDTA applied
3.6 Phosphorus content in paddy and straw incorporated in the soil 14 days after transplantation,
Data regarding P concentration in paddy is along with recommended N:P:K proved to be
presented in Fig. 2C and D. Statistical analysis appropriate to ameliorate zinc deficiency. Soil
showed that variation due to different treatments was application of Zn-EDTA significantly increased yield
significant (P < 0.05). Lowest P concentrations for components, as well as nutrient contents in paddy
paddy and straw were recoded under absolute control grains and straw. Application of Zn-EDTA will be
(T1). When compared with Z-control (T2) different helpful to reduce zinc deficiency in rice.
sources of Zn application resulted in decreased P
content in paddy and straw (except Zn-EDTA Acknowledgement
application, both soil and foliar). Maximum value of The authors are grateful to the colleagues at Institute of
P content in paddy (2.11 %) and straw (1.09 %) were Soil and Environmental Sciences, University of Agriculture,
obtained in T5 (Zn-EDTA applied @ 10.00 kg ha-1 in Faisalabad for their help in conducting the experiment and
soil) followed by T2. Among the Zn treatments, T6 subsequent analysis.
(ZnO applied @ 5.00 kg ha-1 in soil) recorded lower P Competing Interests
contents in paddy (1.72 %) and straw (0.77 %). Authors declare that they have no competing interests.
Similar results also reported Chaudhry et al. (1992)
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