Plants, Crops, and Soils
Zinc is an essential micronutrient needed not only by people but also by crops. Almost half of the world’s cereal crops are deficient in zinc, leading to poor crop yields. Many agricultural countries around the world are affected by zinc deficiencies. In China, zinc deficiency occurs on around half of the agricultural soils, affecting mainly rice and maize.
In India, zinc-deficient soils occupy almost 50% of the agricultural area and are a critical constraint on yield, but crops are highly responsive to zinc fertilization.
In Turkey, major yield and quality benefits in wheat have been obtained with the widespread use of zinc fertilizers, where half of the cereal growing land is zinc-deficient.
Research has shown that areas with zinc-deficient soils are often regions with widespread zinc deficiency in humans.
A basic knowledge of the dynamics of Zn in soils, understanding of the uptake and transport of Zn in plant systems and characterizing the response of plants to Zn deficiency are essential steps in achieving sustainable solutions to the problem of Zn deficiency in plants and humans.
Read more about this topic: Zinc Deficiency
Famous quotes containing the word soils:
“He bends to the order of the seasons, the weather, the soils and crops, as the sails of a ship bend to the wind. He represents continuous hard labor, year in, year out, and small gains. He is a slow person, timed to Nature, and not to city watches. He takes the pace of seasons, plants and chemistry. Nature never hurries: atom by atom, little by little, she achieves her work.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)