Agronomic biofortification and yield improvement in summer mungbean (Vigna radiata L.) through foliar application of zinc, iron, and nitrogen fertilizers
- 1Department of Agronomy, Punjab Agricultural University
- 2Department of Plant Breeding, Punjab Agricultural University
- 3Department of Soil Science, Punjab Agricultural University
Abstract
Globally, half of the world’s population is considered at risk of insufficient zinc intake, whereas around 40% of preschool children and approximately one in every two pregnant women in developing countries are affected by iron deficiency.Increasing the level of essential micronutrients like zinc and iron in edible grains could, however, help overcome such deficiencies and consequentovercome malnutrition. Therefore, the present study was conducted to evaluate the effect of foliar application of ZnSO4, FeSO4and urea on the zinc (Zn) and iron (Fe) biofortification of summer mungbean. In the experiment, various combinations of ZnSO4.7H2O (0.5%), FeSO4.7H2O (0.5%) and urea (2%) were applied during the flowering and pod formation stages to the summer mungbean crop variety SML 1827 in the years 2024 and 2025. The results indicated that foliar application of urea (2%) + ZnSO4.7H2O (0.5%) + FeSO4.7H2O (0.5%) at the initiation of flowering and pod formation stagesresulted in significantly higher seed yield (1083 and 1126 kg ha − 1), net returns, benefit cost ratio, plant nutrient content, zinc (45.4 and 46.9 mg kg − 1) and iron concentration in mungbean seed (163.4 and 167.1 mg kg − 1) than control during both the years, respectively. Overall, seed yield increased by 17.8% and 19.8% over the control in the respective years.Based on these results, it can be concluded that foliar application of urea (2%) combined with ZnSO4.7H2O (0.5%) and FeSO4.7H2O (0.5%) at the flowering and pod formation stages is an effective approach to boost seed yield and improve seed zinc and iron accumulation in summer mungbean.
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BibTeX
@article{jassal2026agronomic,
title = {{Agronomic biofortification and yield improvement in summer mungbean (Vigna radiata L.) through foliar application of zinc, iron, and nitrogen fertilizers}},
author = {Hastinder Singh Jassal and Rajni Sharma and Vajinderpal Kalra and Harpreet Kaur Virk and Vivek Sharma and Hari Ram},
journal = {Scientific Reports},
year = {2026},
month = aug,
doi = {10.1038/s41598-026-66097-w},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-66097-w},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Agronomic biofortification and yield improvement in summer mungbean (Vigna radiata L.) through foliar application of zinc, iron, and nitrogen fertilizers
AU - Hastinder Singh Jassal
AU - Rajni Sharma
AU - Vajinderpal Kalra
AU - Harpreet Kaur Virk
AU - Vivek Sharma
AU - Hari Ram
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/08/01
JO - Scientific Reports
DO - 10.1038/s41598-026-66097-w
UR - https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-66097-w
AB - Globally, half of the world’s population is considered at risk of insufficient zinc intake, whereas around 40% of preschool children and approximately one in every two pregnant women in developing countries are affected by iron deficiency.Increasing the level of essential micronutrients like zinc and iron in edible grains could, however, help overcome such deficiencies and consequentovercome malnutrition. Therefore, the present study was conducted to evaluate the effect of foliar application of ZnSO4, FeSO4and urea on the zinc (Zn) and iron (Fe) biofortification of summer mungbean. In the experiment, various combinations of ZnSO4.7H2O (0.5%), FeSO4.7H2O (0.5%) and urea (2%) were applied during the flowering and pod formation stages to the summer mungbean crop variety SML 1827 in the years 2024 and 2025. The results indicated that foliar application of urea (2%) + ZnSO4.7H2O (0.5%) + FeSO4.7H2O (0.5%) at the initiation of flowering and pod formation stagesresulted in significantly higher seed yield (1083 and 1126 kg ha − 1), net returns, benefit cost ratio, plant nutrient content, zinc (45.4 and 46.9 mg kg − 1) and iron concentration in mungbean seed (163.4 and 167.1 mg kg − 1) than control during both the years, respectively. Overall, seed yield increased by 17.8% and 19.8% over the control in the respective years.Based on these results, it can be concluded that foliar application of urea (2%) combined with ZnSO4.7H2O (0.5%) and FeSO4.7H2O (0.5%) at the flowering and pod formation stages is an effective approach to boost seed yield and improve seed zinc and iron accumulation in summer mungbean.
SN - 2045-2322
ER -