Zinc (Zn) deficiency is the most important abiotic factor limiting rice (Oryza sativa L.) productivity and also a nutritional disorder with adverse impacts on human health worldwide. The present study investigated the comparative effect of four Zn application methods: Zn seed coating (2 g Zn kg⁻¹ seed), Zn seed priming (0.25 M Zn solution), basal application (10 kg ha⁻¹), and Zn foliar spray (0.5% Zn solution) in improving the productivity and biofortification of rice under puddled transplanted (PudTR) and direct‐seeded rice (DSR) system. A general control with no Zn application was included, whereas hydro‐priming and foliar water application were used as positive control treatments for Zn seed priming and Zn foliar spray, respectively. Regardless of application methods, Zn nutrition significantly improved the yield and related traits and grain Zn concentration in both production systems. Averaged across 2 yr, the increase in grain yield under different Zn application treatments was in the order of seed priming (23%) > foliar application (18%) > basal application (18%) > seed coating (13%), compared with the control. However, grain Zn concentration was the highest with seed priming in PudTR (33% over control) and with basal application in DSR (45% over control). The maximum net benefits were obtained through Zn seed priming in both production systems. In conclusion, Zn seed priming improved the yield and was the most cost‐effective method in PudTR and DSR system.

中文翻译：

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锌营养可提高不同生产系统下的水稻生产力，锌利用效率和谷物生物强化能力

锌（Zn）缺乏症是限制水稻（Oryza sativa L.）生产力的最重要的非生物因子，也是一种营养失调，对全世界的人类健康造成不利影响。本研究调查了四种锌施用方法的比较效果：锌种子包衣（2 g Zn kg ^-1种子），Zn种子底漆（0.25 M Zn溶液），基础施用（10 kg ha ^-1））和锌叶面喷雾剂（0.5％锌溶液）可以提高水浸移植（PudTR）和直播水稻（DSR）系统下水稻的生产力和生物强化能力。包括不施用锌的一般对照，而加水底漆和叶面喷水分别用作锌种子底漆和锌叶面喷雾的阳性对照处理。不管使用哪种方法，锌营养都显着提高了两个生产系统中的产量，相关性状和籽粒锌浓度。在2年的平均水平下，与施用锌相比，在不同的锌施用处理下，谷物产量的增加顺序为：种子启动（23％）>叶面施用（18％）>基础施用（18％）>种衣（13％）。控制。然而，种子启动时，PudTR中的籽粒锌浓度最高（比对照高33％），而在DSR中基础施用（比对照高45％）。在两种生产系统中，通过锌种子底漆均可获得最大的净收益。总而言之，Zn种子底漆提高了产量，是PudTR和DSR系统中最具成本效益的方法。