Intensification of agricultural land use coupled with cultivation of modern varieties has remarkably increased in Bangladesh. This in turn has resulted in deterioration of soil fertility, with emergence of macro- and micro-nutrient deficiency of crops. With this point in view, a study was undertaken to evaluate the effect of different micronutrients on wheat. Experiments were conducted at BINA substationfarm (Site-A) and farmers’ fields (Site-B) of Rangpur district with in AEZ 3. Field trials were done with six micronutrients (B, Zn, Cu, Mn, Fe and Mo), designed in an additive manner. The rates of Zn, B, Cu, Mn, Fe and Mo application were 3, 2, 2, 3, 5 and 1kg ha-1, respectively. Other nutrients viz. N, P, K and S were applied at recommended rates to all plots. The results revealed that across the experimental sites, the crop was quite responsive to the added Zn and B. Positive effect of Cu and Mn was also noted. Fe and Mo did not show the quite positive responses to wheat in AEZ 3 of Bangladesh.
Key words: Micronutrients, wheat, Tista Meander Floodplain.
Introduction
Micronutrients are required for supporting normal growth and development of plants. If any element is lacking in the soil or not adequately balanced with other nutrients, growth suppression or even complete inhibition may result (Mengel et al., 2001). Micronutrients that are essential for crops include Fe, Mn, Zn, Cu, Mo, Co and B. Zinc and Fe have been identified as the most commonly deficient micronutrients in both human and crops. Zinc and iron deficiency is ranked as the 5th and 6th leading risk factors, respectively, among the ten leading cause of disease in humans, specifically in low-income countries (WHO, 2002). Indeed; micronutrient has received less attention in fertilizer management research. Micronutrient trials have been made principally on rice (Jahiruddin et al., 1994), wheat (Hossain, 2005) and maize (Hossain et al., 2008). Zinc deficiency is particularly evident in calcareous and wetland rice soils (Islam, 2008). Ryan
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