Mineral biofortification and metal/metalloid accumulation in food crops: recent research and trends (Part II)

This is the second part of the special issue on Mineral Biofortification and Metal/Metalloid Accumulation in Food Crops (Hussain 2022).The agricultural sector is under major challenge to produce high yields and nutritious foods from soils that are suffering fertility decline and metal(loid) contamination (Qin et al. 2021;Silver et al. 2021).A short description of the research articles included in this part of the special issue is given below. Biofortification using fertilisersA key solution to mineral deficiencies in animals and humans is the use of mineral fertilisers for the biofortification of food/fodder crops.In a field study, ZnSO 4 application increased yield, quality and profitability of grass forages (oat, barley, annual ryegrass and triticale) cultivated in calcareous soil (Sher et al. 2022).Other methods of nutrient application, such as seed priming and foliar application, have also been recommended by researchers for the biofortification of food crops.Su et al. (2022) suggested foliar Zn application for increasing grain Zn and decreasing grain phytic acid concentrations in 19 rice cultivars.In another study on rice, seed priming with Zn and K increased seedling growth, whereas foliar Zn application increased grain yield and grain Zn concentration (Yamuangmorn et al. 2022).Ram et al. (2022) reported that integrating foliar Zn with thiamethoxam and propiconazole did not reduce their efficacy for enriching Zn in grains and controlling insect and disease attacks on field-grown wheat.In another study on wheat grown on low-Zn calcareous soils, seed priming with 0.5 M ZnSO 4 improved grain yield (by 63%) and grain Zn concentration (by 43%) compared with non-primed seeds (Rehman et al. 2022). Biofortification using microorganisms