Browsing by Author "I. Ortiz-Monasterio"

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Biofortification of wheat with zinc through zinc fertilization in seven countries
(2012) C.Q. Zou; Y.Q. Zhang; A. Rashid; H. Ram; E. Savasli; R.Z. Arisoy; I. Ortiz-Monasterio; S. Simunji; Z.H. Wang; V. Sohu; M. Hassan; Y. Kaya; O. Onder; O. Lungu; M. Yaqub Mujahid; A.K. Joshi; Y. Zelenskiy; F.S. Zhang; I. Cakmak
Aim: Zinc (Zn) fertilization is an effective agronomic tool for Zn biofortification of wheat for overcoming human Zn deficiency. But it still needs to be evaluated across locations with different management practices and wheat cultivars, since grain Zn concentrations may be significantly affected by locations, cultivars and management. Materials: Field experiments were conducted over 3 years with the following four Zn treatments: nil Zn, soil Zn application, foliar Zn application and soil + foliar Zn application to explore the impact of Zn fertilization in Zn biofortification of wheat. The experiments were conducted at a total of 23 experimental site-years in China, India, Kazakhstan, Mexico, Pakistan, Turkey and Zambia. Results: The results showed that foliar Zn application alone or in combination with soil application, significantly increased grain Zn concentrations from 27 mg kg-1 at nil Zn to 48 and 49 mg kg-1 across all of 23 site-years, resulting in increases in grain Zn by 84 % and 90 %, respectively. Overall, soil Zn deficiency was not a growth limiting factor on the experimental sites. A significant grain yield increase in response to soil Zn fertilization was found only in Pakistan. When all locations and cropping years are combined, soil Zn fertilization resulted in about 5 % increase in grain yield. Foliar Zn application did not cause any adverse effect on grain yield, even slightly improved the yield. Across the 23 site-years, soil Zn application had a small effect on Zn concentration of leaves collected before foliar Zn application, and increased grain Zn concentration only by 12 %. The correlation between grain yield and the effectiveness of foliar Zn application on grain Zn was condition dependent, and was positive and significant at certain conditions. Conclusion: Foliar Zn application resulted in successful biofortification of wheat grain with Zn without causing yield loss. This effect of Zn fertilization occurred irrespective of the soil and environmental conditions, management practices applied and cultivars used in 23 site-years. Foliar Zn fertilizer approach can be locally adopted for increasing dietary Zn intake and fighting human Zn deficiency in rural areas. © 2012 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.
Genotype × environment interaction for zinc and iron concentration of wheat grain in eastern Gangetic plains of India
(2010) A.K. Joshi; J. Crossa; B. Arun; R. Chand; R. Trethowan; M. Vargas; I. Ortiz-Monasterio
Zinc and iron are important micronutrients for human health for which widespread deficiency occurs in many regions of the world including South Asia. Breeding efforts for enriching wheat grains with more zinc and iron are in progress in India, Pakistan and CIMMYT (International Maize and Wheat Improvement Centre). Further knowledge on genotype × environment interaction of these nutrients in the grain is expected to contribute to better understand the magnitude of this interaction and the potential identification of more stable genotypes for this trait. Elite lines from CIMMYT were evaluated in a multilocation trial in the eastern Gangetic plains (EGP) of India to determine genotype × environment (GE) interactions for agronomic and nutrient traits. Agronomic (yield and days to heading) data were available for 14 environments, while zinc and iron concentration of grains for 10 environments. Soil and meteorological data of each of the locations were also used. GE was significant for all the four traits. Locations showed contrasting response to grain iron and zinc. Compared to iron, zinc showed greater variation across locations. Maximum temperature was the major determinant for the four traits. Zinc content in 30-60 cm soil depth was also a significant determinant for grain zinc as well as iron concentration. The results suggest that the GE was substantial for grain iron and zinc and established varieties of eastern Gangetic plains India are not inferior to the CIMMYT germplasm tested. Hence, greater efforts taking care of GE interactions are needed to breed iron and zinc rich wheat lines. © 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.