Biofortification: Effect of Zn and Fe application on wheat genotypes in Bangladesh

Biofortification of zinc (Zn) and iron (Fe) will be an important effort for the combat of malnutrition in Bangladesh. The experimental site was Bangladesh Agricultural University (BAU) farm to increase the Zn and Fe content in wheat grain. The design of the experiment was split-plot and replicated thrice. Ten varieties and seven advanced lines were tested under 3 treatments: control, Zn and Zn + Fe; for the study. For control plots, the grain Zn concentration varied from 20.3 – 30.5 µg g-1, across the genotypes, with the highest performance by advanced line BAW 917 and the lowest performance by variety Sufi. The average grain Zn concentration over the 17 genotypes was noted as 26.3 µg g-1. When Zn was applied to soil, the grain Zn concentration ranged from 29.1 - 40.9 µg g-1 with a mean of 34.2 µg g-1. The Fe content ranged from 20-35 µg g-1 with a mean of 30.5 µg g-1. The protein content also increases due to the Zn application. The Zn application increase the Zn content in grain as well as increase the yield with protein content. Among the genotype, there are some potential varieties for biofortification.