A. Yilmaz et al., EFFECT OF SEED ZINC CONTENT ON GRAIN-YIELD AND ZINC CONCENTRATION OF WHEAT GROWN IN ZINC-DEFICIENT CALCAREOUS SOILS, Journal of plant nutrition, 21(10), 1998, pp. 2257-2264
Field experiments were carried out to study the effect of different se
ed-zinc (Zn) content on grain yield and grain Zn concentration in a br
ead wheat cultivar Atay 85 grown in a severely Zn-deficient soil under
rainfed and irrigated conditions for two years. Three groups of seeds
with Zn contents of 355, 800, and 1,465 ng Zn seed(-1) were obtained
through different number of foliar applications of ZnSO4. 7H(2)O in th
e previous crop year. Experiments were carried out with 23 kg Zn ha(-1
) (as ZnSO4. 7H(2)O) and without Zn fertilization to the soil. Grain y
ield from seeds with 800 and 1,465 ng Zn seed(-1) content was signific
antly higher than that from low seed-Zn, especially under rainfed cond
itions. In the first year, under rainfed and Zn-deficient conditions,
yield of plants grown from the highest seed-Zn content was 116% higher
than the yield of plants grown from the low seed-Zn content. However,
in the first year soil-Zn application combined with low-Zn seed resul
ted in a yield increase of 466% compared to nill Zn treatment with low
-Zn seed, indicating that higher seed-Zn contents could not compensate
for the effects of soil Zn application. Soil Zn application significa
ntly increased Zn concentrations in shoot and grain. However, the effe
ct of different seed Zn contents on Zn concentrations of plants was no
t significant, probably due to the dilution of Zn in tissues resulting
from enhanced dry matter production. The results presented show that
wheat plants grown from seed with high Zn content can achieve higher g
rain yields than those grown from the low-Zn seed when Zn was not appl
ied to the soil. Therefore, sowing seeds with higher Zn contents can b
e considered a practical solution to alleviate Zn deficiency problem,
especially under rainfed conditions in spite of it being insufficient
to completely overcome the problem.