Abstract
The soils of the Terai region of West Bengal are generally acidic in nature and deficient in available boron (B) and zinc (Zn) leading to widespread micronutrient constraints in the region. This study investigated the interaction effects of B and Zn on wheat growth, nutrient concentration and uptake in this region. A pot experiment was conducted using a factorial Completely Randomized Design (CRD) with three levels each of B (0, 2 and 2.5 mg kg⁻¹) and Zn (0, 5 and 10 mg kg⁻¹). The experimental soil was acidic (pH 5.70) and deficient in available B and Zn which corroborates the typical micronutrient constraints of the region. Results revealed that B application significantly increased shoot dry matter yield, with maximum yield at 2.5 mg kg⁻¹ B. Zinc application showed a less consistent response, though a higher dose (10 mg kg⁻¹) significantly improved yield. The combined application of B (2.5 mg kg⁻¹) and Zn (10 mg kg⁻¹) produced the highest biomass, indicating a positive interaction effect. B application significantly increased both B and Zn concentrations in plant tissues whereas Zn application reduced B concentration, indicating an antagonistic interaction at higher levels. However, Zn played a protective role by mitigating B toxicity and improving nutrient balance. Nutrient uptake data indicated substantial increases in both B and Zn uptake with combined application, particularly at higher levels. The findings demonstrate that balanced application of B and Zn enhances wheat productivity and nutrient use efficiency in acidic soils. The study highlights the importance of Zn–B stoichiometry in optimizing crop performance and suggests that appropriate micronutrient management strategies are essential for sustainable wheat production and biofortification in micronutrient-deficient regions.
Abstract from the paper’s OpenAlex record, shown for indexing and research. Copyright remains with the authors or the publisher. Read at the source ↗
The text the model read, with the source record’s inline markup (italics, sub- and superscripts) rendered and its character entities decoded; quote offsets refer to the raw text.
Claims 9
Claim · model-written summary
B application significantly increased wheat shoot dry matter yield, maximal at 2.5 mg kg⁻¹ B.
- Taxon
- Wheat
Triticum aestivumt0 - Treatment
- B applicatione0
- Outcome
- shoot dry matter yielde0
- Direction
- increasede0
- Value
- 2.5 mg kg⁻¹ Be0
Not reportedComparatorSetting
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“B application significantly increased shoot dry matter yield, with maximum yield at 2.5 mg kg⁻¹ B.”
t0“Wheat”
Claim · model-written summary
A 10 mg kg⁻¹ zinc dose significantly improved wheat yield.
- Taxon
- WheatTriticum aestivumt0
- Treatment
- 10 mg kg⁻¹e0
- Outcome
- yielde0
- Direction
- improvede0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“a higher dose (10 mg kg⁻¹) significantly improved yield”
t0“Wheat”
Claim · model-written summary
Combined B and Zn application produced the highest wheat biomass.
- Taxon
- WheatTriticum aestivumt0
- Treatment
- combined application of B (2.5 mg kg⁻¹) and Zn (10 mg kg⁻¹)e0
- Outcome
- biomasse0
- Direction
- higheste0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“The combined application of B (2.5 mg kg⁻¹) and Zn (10 mg kg⁻¹) produced the highest biomass”
t0“Wheat”
Claim · model-written summary
B application increased B concentration in wheat tissue.
- Taxon
- WheatTriticum aestivumt0
- Organ / stage
- plant tissuese0
- Treatment
- B applicatione0
- Outcome
- Be0
- Direction
- increasede0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“B application significantly increased both B and Zn concentrations in plant tissues”
t0“Wheat”
Claim · model-written summary
B application increased Zn concentration in wheat tissue.
- Taxon
- WheatTriticum aestivumt0
- Organ / stage
- plant tissuese0
- Treatment
- B applicatione0
- Outcome
- Zn concentrationse0
- Direction
- increasede0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“B application significantly increased both B and Zn concentrations in plant tissues”
t0“Wheat”
Claim · model-written summary
Zn application reduced wheat tissue B concentration.
- Taxon
- WheatTriticum aestivumt0
- Treatment
- Zn applicatione0
- Outcome
- B concentratione0
- Direction
- reducede0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Zn application reduced B concentration”
t0“Wheat”
Claim · model-written summary
Zn mitigated B toxicity and improved wheat nutrient balance.
- Taxon
- WheatTriticum aestivumt0
- Treatment
- Zne0
- Outcome
- B toxicitye0
- Direction
- mitigatinge0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Zn played a protective role by mitigating B toxicity and improving nutrient balance”
t0“Wheat”
Claim · model-written summary
Combined application increased wheat B uptake.
- Taxon
- WheatTriticum aestivumt0
- Treatment
- combined applicatione0
- Outcome
- Be0
- Direction
- increasese0
- Qualifier
- particularly at higher levelse0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“substantial increases in both B and Zn uptake with combined application, particularly at higher levels”
t0“Wheat”
Claim · model-written summary
Combined application increased wheat Zn uptake.
- Taxon
- WheatTriticum aestivumt0
- Treatment
- combined applicatione0
- Outcome
- Zn uptakee0
- Direction
- increasese0
- Qualifier
- particularly at higher levelse0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“substantial increases in both B and Zn uptake with combined application, particularly at higher levels”
t0“Wheat”
The same questions in other papers
boron atom · yield · Triticum aestivum (wheat)Results differ
61 papers in the same direction as this paper · 12 in the opposite direction · 2 reporting no difference from an alternative
- negative
- negative
- no effect
72 papers more in this group
See all 76 papers →zinc atom · growth · Triticum aestivum (wheat)Results differ
154 papers in the same direction as this paper · 43 in the opposite direction · 2 reporting no difference from an alternative
- no effect
- no effect
- negative
196 papers more in this group
See all 200 papers →zinc atom · pest · Triticum aestivum (wheat)Positive and negative results
8 papers in the same direction as this paper · 3 in the opposite direction
- negative
- negative
- negative
8 papers more in this group
See all 12 papers →boron atom · nutrient: content · Triticum aestivum (wheat)Positive and negative results
17 papers in the same direction as this paper · 4 in the opposite direction
- negative
- negative
- no effect
18 papers more in this group
See all 22 papers →Claims are grouped by organism, treatment and what was measured or targeted. A paper counts as positive when any of its claims in the group is positive.