Zinc oxide-neem oil conditioning for improving the quality of the micronutrient fertilizer zinc sulphate heptahydrate

摘要

In India, zinc (Zn) deficiency was first reported in rice by Nene1; it is now widespread all over the country. The latest report2 indicates that 49% of Indian soils are deficient in Zn. But good responses of several field and fruit crops to Zn fertilization have been reported from different parts of the country3,4. The main causes for the wide-spread emergence of Zn deficiency after the Green Revolution are high crop harvests in intensive crop rotations such as rice–wheat5 accompanied by imbalanced fertilization with high doses of nitrogen, removal of both grain and straw from the field and little to virtually nil application of organic manures.