PJB-2020-393
ZINC NUTRITION IMPROVES CROP ALLOMETRY, YIELD TRAITS AND GRAIN-ZN BIOFORTIFICATION IN DIVERSE GENOTYPES OF MUNGBEAN
MUHAMMAD UMAR HAIDER
Abstract
Zinc (Zn) is an important crop nutrient and is also essential for human health and its deficiency in human can be overcome through biofortified food. Mungbean is an important nutritionally rich pulse crop of arid and semi-arid regions. It has a great potential to provide essential micronutrient like Zn to human. Therefore, it is very important to investigate the role of Zn fertilization for improvement in yield attributes and biofortification of mungbean. In this study, twelve mungbean genotypes (NM-28, NM-2011, NM-2006, NM-13-1, NM-51, NM-54, NM-92, NM-19-19, NM-20-21, NM-121-25, 7006, 7008) were assessed for the genetic diversity followed by characterization for growth and yield attributes and Zn biofortification under control and Zn fertilized (10 kg ha-1) conditions. A wide range in allometric traits, yield components, grain yield and grain Zn contents was observed for all studied traits. Zn fertilization improved entire allometric and yield related traits. Grain yield of different genotypes varied from 439 to 904 kg ha-1 under control and 536 to 1462 kg ha-1 under Zn fertilization. Zn concentration varied from 15.50 to 45.60 mg kg-1 under control and 18.53 to 64.23 mg kg-1 under Zn fertilization. Genotypes differ in their potential to improve grain Zn contents (Zn biofortification) with Zn fertilization. Maximum improvement of grain Zn contents was found in the genotype NM-28 and minimum was found in NM-121-25. This great variation in yield, Zn contents and Zn biofortification indicates potential of improvement in mungbean yield and Zn biofortification through breeding programs.
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