Ismailia 1/ MICRONUTRIENT DEFICIENCIES IN PLANTS: THEIR OCCURRENCE IN THE MIDDLE EAST, EFFECTS ON HUMANS AND ANIMALS AND REMEDY STRATEGIES Mohamed M. El-Fouly Fertilization Technology Department (Project: Micronutrients and Plant Nutrition Problems) National Research Centre Cairo – Dokki – Egypt

Ismailia 1/ Contents Introduction Deficiencies in soils Deficiencies in plants Correction approaches Soil treatment Foliar application Seed treatment Plant breading Conclusions

Ismailia 1/ Introduction

Ismailia 1/ Ten leading causes of illness and disease in low-income countries (WHO, 2002) Risk factor% % Underweight Unsafe sex Unsafe water Indoor smoke Zinc deficiency Iron deficiency Vitamin A deficiency Blood pressure Tobacco Cholesterol IFA-Aug. 2007

Ismailia 1/ NutrientSymptoms Fe Anemia is well known in all countries Zn School and preschool children have low intake Growth retardation In Jordan average intake 90% with lowest 71% of needs Morocco 29% of population has Zn deficiency In Egypt lot of indications of Zn deficiency occurrence in children and adolescents Global estimations of figure the possible deficiency in the region reach 74% of the population Others No much documented data Deficiencies in humans in the Region

Ismailia 1/ Micronutrients of high importance for Agriculture in the MENA Region Fe Mn Cu Zn B Se ? Why ?

Ismailia 1/ Low natural content in the soil High pH values of the soil (low availability) High salt content (low availability) High CaCO3 content Agronomic practices counteracting the continuous supply of nutrients/availability e.g. (irrigation / methods of fertilizers application) Crop intensification (high demand in short periods) Interaction between nutrients Major Reasons

Ismailia 1/ Major works on micronutrients in the region Sillanpaa (Finnland) (Regional) 1970’s National Research Centre, Cairo Micronutrient project (Egypt & Arab Countries) El-Fouly et al Turkey – Cakmak et al Iran – Malakouti et al. 1990’s Pakistan 1990’s India 1990’s

Ismailia 1/ Deficiencies in Soils

Ismailia 1/ Micronutrient content and its evaluation in soils of some selected areas in Egypt Area FeMnZnCu % deficient% Deficient% deficient Field Crops : Alluvial (0-30) Dakahlia 5000 samples Behira 308 samples Calcareous Nubaseed 582 samples Fruits trees Alluvial Kaliobia (0-60) 462 samples Sandy Gianacleese % Deficient = % of total samples contain deficient amounts Source : El-Fouly (1986)

Ismailia 1/ Studies in Egypt – Syria – Jordan –- Turkey India – Pakistan – Yemen – Oman – Morocco – Tunisia - Sudan Showed Deficiencies in Soils in Zn Fe Cu M n

Ismailia 1/ Zn concentration in Surface and Sub-Surface Soil layers in some locations at Ismailia District (Ismailia Governorate)

Ismailia 1/ Mn concentration in Surface and Sub-Surface Soil layers in some locations at Ismailia District (Ismailia Governorate)

Ismailia 1/ Zinc deficiencies in calcareous soils on a district level DistrictNo. of Samples % soil samples deficient E. Champaran Muzaffarpur Samastipur Begusarai Vaishali Saran Gopalganj Siwan Overall Singh and Singh (2007)

Ismailia 1/ Deficiencies in Plants

Ismailia 1/ Deficiency status in some selected crops in Egypt according to leaf analysis criteria % of total analyzed samples contain less than adequate Area FeMnZnCu Wheat Menoufia (121 samples) Behira (138 samples) Corn Menoufia (180 samples) Behira (170 samples) Fababeans Menoufia (45 samples) Behira (158 samples)

Ismailia 1/ Deficiency status in some selected crops in Egypt according to leaf analysis criteria % of total analyzed samples contain less than adequate (Continue) Area FeMnZnCu Soybean Menoufia (100 samples) Behira (35 samples) Clover Menoufia (230 samples) Behira (152 samples) El-Fouly (1980)

Ismailia 1/ CropFeMnZnCu Wheat Maize Sorghum Cotton Sugar cane Rice Vegetables Orchards Legumes Estimated micronutrient deficiencies in major crops in Egypt (% of total area) hidden + temporarily deficiencies NRC-GTZ Project

Ismailia 1/ Crop species considered particularly susceptible to micro- nutrient deficiencies ManganeseBoronCopperZincFeMolybdenum Sugar beet WheatMaizePeanutsCauliflower PeasCottonBarley Field beans CloverBroccoli CottonOilseed rapeOnionsWheatSoybeanAlfalfa Dwarf beansSunflowerCarrotsRicePeas Oats Cauliflower/ cabbage Red beetPeanuts BarleyAlfalfaLettuceSorghum WheatCelerySpinach Potato Lettuce

Ismailia 1/ Estimated crop requirements for Zinc, Manganese, iron and Copper in Egypt Crop Percentage of surveyed crop area requiring micronutrients (%) ZnMnFeCu Wheat Maize Sorghum Cotton Sugar-cane Rice Vegetables Orchards Legumes Sources : El-Fouly and Fawzi (1995)

Ismailia 1/ Other Countries in the region have also micronutrient deficiencies in major field crops as well as fruits / vegetables especially under irrigation systems

Ismailia 1/ Grazing Animals Low Micronutrient Contents In Plants Low Intake Diseases

Ismailia 1/ Correction Approaches

Ismailia 1/ APPROACHES TO CORRECT DEFICIENCY : Treat the seed :  Soaking  Mixing Treat the soil:  Fertilizers containing micronutrients Treat the plant :  Fertilizers containing micronutrients  Spraying foliar fertilizers  Breeding high efficiency cultivars Treat the animal :  Metered water  Feeding blocks and licks  Supplementation through the feed  Injecting  Producing fodder with high content Treat humans :  Food fortification  Supplementation capsules  Increasing natural content of food produced

Ismailia 1/ Soil treatment

Ismailia 1/ Single compound Multinutrient compound Added to macronutrients Non-chelated Chelated Mixed Formulated

Ismailia 1/ Effect of Zn soil application on yield, Zn concentration and Zn uptake (Peanut) GregoryNC 10Giza 5Giza 6 Seed yield -Zn +Zn Zn concentration in seeds  g/g dry wt. -Zn +Zn Zn uptake mg/plant -Zn +Zn Semida - Unpublished

Ismailia 1/ Soil Treatments Added to NPK’s or Only Micronutrients (Chelated/Salts) Availability for long time is not guaranteed (pH stability – agronomic practices / Variation of needs/time) used only particular situations

Ismailia 1/ Seed Treatment

Ismailia 1/ Effects of seed Zn content on grain yield of bread wheat cultivar Atag grown under rainfed and irrigated conditions in a Zn-deficient calcareous soil with (+Zn = 23 kg Zn/ha) and without Zn (-Zn) fertilisation in Central Anatolia (Yilmaz et al., 1998). Seed Zn content RainfedIrrigared -Zn+Zn-Zn+Zn ng Zn/seedKg grain/ha Mean

Ismailia 1/ Effect of Zn content in seeds prior to seeding and yield under no additional Zn (Peanut) Seed Zn ug/seed  g/g seed-1 Yield g/plant Gregory Giza Giza NC El-Fouly et al. unpublished

Ismailia 1/ Effect of application methods of some micronutrients on some chemical contents in the bulb at harvest. (Averages of two seasons) CharactersControl MnCu Seed soaking Root dipping Foliar spray Seed soaking Root dipping Foliar spray L.S.D. at 5% T.S.S Total Nitrogen Phosphorus N.S Manganese mg/kg Copper mg/kg Hindi et al. (1983)

Ismailia 1/ Foliar Treatment

Ismailia 1/ Changes in micronutrients concentration in potato tubers of three potato cultivars as affected by micronutrients foliar spray S = Spunta M = Monaliza D = Diamont Source : Nofal et al., 1998 Treatments (g/fed.) Zn (ppm) Mean SMD 1995/1996 Control /1997 Control

Ismailia 1/ Effect of foliar application with micronutrient compounds on micronutrients concentration of potato tubers (ppm) during two seasons Source : Khalifa et al., (2003) Treatment Fe (ppm)Mn (ppm)Zn (ppm) 2001/ / / / / /2003 Control g/fed/ g/fed g/fed L.S.D. at 0.5%

Ismailia 1/ Effect of spraying Mn, Zn, Fe combination on potato cultivars grown on clay soils (Experiment II). Treatment Tuber yield t/ha Nutrient concentration in leaves ppm FeMnZnCu Aran Banner 1. Control16.3b167b46b23b18a 2. Mn + Zn + Fe19.6a284a67a39a20a Alpha 1. Control22.5b118b52b22b16a 2. Mn + Zn + Fe26.0a177a61a34a15a Values with the same letter are not significantly different Fawzi et al. (1983)

Ismailia 1/ Micronutrients content of soybean seeds as affected by micronutrient fertilizers (Average of two seasons) Treatment Micronutrients conc. (ppm) Micronutrients content ug/plant) FeMnZnFeMnZn 1. Control141a41a50a1650a480a585a 2. Nervanid Mn (14%)146a59c55ab2175b879d820c 3. Nervanid Zn (13%)158ab43a51c2386c649b921d 3. Pholaz A176c54b59b2605d799c 873c d 4. Pholaz Mn (15%)144a58c53a2246b908d827c 5. Ferriblix (Fe 6 %)165b50b52a2294b695b723b Firgany et al. (1988)

Ismailia 1/ The effect of foliar application of Zn and Fe on the yield of two onion cultivars Bybordi and Malakoti (2007b) Yield (ton/ha) FAO Expert Meeting Cairo 12/07 FG G F G E F G E F CD D D F BC C A B

Ismailia 1/ FAO Expert Meeting Cairo 12/ The effect of foliar application of Zn and Fe on NO 3 concentrations in bulbs of two onion cultivars Bybordi and Malakoti (2007 b) NO 3 (mg/kg) A AB A B B BC C C CD E D E F EF

Ismailia 1/ Micronutrient levels in ryegrass at different harvest cuts following foliar application of zinc at 1L/ha Moran (2004) Zinc conc.-ppm Zn in DM Cut number FAO Expert Meeting Cairo 12/07

Ismailia 1/ Soil Sample Application Method Kg/ha Fe Mg kg -1 Mn Mg kg -1 Zn Mg kg -1 Cu Mg kg -1 1 Soil Foliage The effects of microplex on mineral contents of spinach

Ismailia 1/ Cereal grain Zn concentration as affected by Zn fertilization of deficient soils : some examples Species Zn concentration (mg kg -1 ) Reference Control+Zn Wheat Rice Corn Sorghum Rashid and Fox (1992) Rashid et al. (2006) Rashid and Fox (1992) Abdul Rashid (2007)

Ismailia 1/ Average yield increases ( ) due to use of micronutrients and balanced fertilization obtained by farmers participating in the Revolving Fund (RF) activities Crop Increase (%) Crop Increase (%) Crop Increase (%) Citrus30Cotton20Lentils25 Mango30Wheat18Potato20 Peaches20Rice14Tomato15 Pears20Maize24Pepper20 Apples20Soybean24Cucumber20 Grapes25Peanuts28Protected Vegetables 20 Source : El-Fouly, et al. 1995

Ismailia 1/ WHO Strategy 2010 – 2019 “Promote the production and consumption of micronutrient rich foods as the ONLY truly sustainable solution to micronutrient deficiencies problems”

Ismailia 1/ Biofortification Strategies for Micronutrients 1)Increase uptake 2)Increase translocation 3)Increase storage capacity

Ismailia 1/ Testing Genotypes for Fe and Zn Contents Phaseolus Beans (CIAT) Rice(IRRI) Wheat (CIMMYT) Cassava (CIAT)

Ismailia 1/ Harvest Plus BeanIronZn Rwanda Congo 2012 MilletIronZnIndia2012 RiceZnIron Bangladesh, India 2013 WheatZnIron India, Pakistan 2013 Miller, D. and Welch, R.M.

Ismailia 1/ Average, minimum and Statistics of 90 germplasms evaluated at six locations in Zimbabwe for grain iron and zinc concentration during Site Iron (mg/kg)Zinc (mg/kg) Mean grain yield (ton/ha) MeanMinMaxMeanMinMax  Harare, N applied <.001 Harare, N stress <.001 Matopos <.001 Rattray <.001 Kadoma <.001 Glandala <.001 Across sites <.001

Ismailia 1/ Iron and Zinc content of some selected varieties of brown rice Variety Iron Mean + SE mg/kg No. of samples Mean + SE mg/kg No. of samples Jalmagna Zuchem Xua Bue Nuo Madhuker IR IR Gregorio et al. (2000)

Ismailia 1/ Increase the micronutrients content in product Improving human and animal helath Germination improvement of resulted seeds Improving seedling growth Raising stress resistance Raising the resistance to pests Micronutrient Fertilization Yield increases +

Ismailia 1/ Conclusions Micronutrient remedy measures should be addressed within a holistic approach taking major essential elements into consideration (interaction between nutrients) Agricultural practices deliver quick solution for the low micronutrient content in food and feed and lead to economic vi yield increases with high micronutrient contents Recommended agricultural practices remedy differ according to soil type, crop and prevailing agricultural practice Breeding/genetic engineering programs can deliver a long run solution, provided they take other essential elements and balanced nutrition of crops into consideration while testing genotypes

Ismailia 1/ Acknowledgement Thanks are due to the Academy of Scientific Research and Technology, Egypt and the German Ministry for Economic Cooperation for their support during the early stages of the micronutrient program in the NRC.

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