Zinc biofortification strategies for enhancing yield and zinc uptake in chickpea varieties

A field experiment was conducted during Rabi season of 2021-22 and 2022-23 at Rajasthan College of Agriculture, MPUAT, Udaipur (Rajasthan) to determine the productivity, profitability, and zinc content and uptake of chickpea varieties (GNG 2144, GNG 1958, RVG 203 and Pratap Chana 1) under different agronomic methods of zinc biofortification.The chickpea variety GNG 2144 recorded highest seed yield (2.12 t ha^-1), haulm yield (3.55 t ha^-1), zinc concentration in seed and haulm (46.45 and 32.33 mg kg^-1) and total zinc uptake (216 g ha^-1) over rest of chickpea varieties. Zinc biofortification through soil application of 25 kg ZnSO₄ ha^-1 + foliar application of 0.5% ZnSO₄ recorded highest seed yield (1.95 t ha^-1), haulm yield (3.62 t ha^-1), zinc concentration in seed and haulm (46.50 and 30.85 mg kg^-1) and total zinc uptake (208 g ha^-1) which was significantly higher by 25.26, 27.73, 43.52, 39.03 and 80.86 percent over control.