Effect of Zinc Sulphate and Organics on Zn Content and Yield of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Chenopodium</Emphasis> Grown in Different Soils

Zinc (Zn) deficiency in humans is a widespread problem across the globe. Since, vegetables are the important constituent of daily diet, it is very useful to enrich leafy vegetables with Zn in alleviating Zn deficiency in humans. Greenhouse pot experiment was conducted to evaluate the effects of applied Zn and organics on shoot Zn content and dry biomass yield of Chenopodium album grown in acid and alkaline soils. Zinc content increased significantly with increase in Zn level. Zinc content gets reduced to a great extent due to application of farmyard manure (FYM) and sludge in acid soil. As far as dry biomass yield is concerned, the crop responded positively to applied level of Zn @ 5 mg kg^?1 in alkaline soil, while such response was conspicuously absent in acid soil. In case of alkaline soil, significant reduction in dry biomass yield occurred only at 100 mg Zn kg^?1, whereas such reduction was recorded in acid soil even at 50 mg Zn kg^?1. With reference to recommended dietary allowances of Zn for humans, substantial enrichment of Chenopodium in terms of Zn content is possible due to application of Zn from external sources. Taking health risk into consideration, applied rate of Zn may go up to 100 mg kg^?1 for alkaline soil as against 50 mg kg^?1 for acid soil in enriching Chenopodium with Zn.