Globally, widespread micronutrient deficiencies have become a serious challenge for sustaining crop production systems and food security. Of all micronutrients, zinc (Zn) is the most deficient one. Hence, efficient Zn management is essential to achieve potential crop yields. A six-year field experiment was conducted on Typic Hapludalfs with maize-wheat cropping system to study the direct and residual Zn management effect on maize and succeeding wheat crop, respectively. The effect on soil available Zn was also evaluated. Three Zn application frequencies, viz. once (single year), alternate (every alternate year), and continuous (every year) at four Zn application rates, viz. 2.5, 5.0, 7.5, and 10.0 kg ha⁻¹ along with one control (no Zn) were investigated from 2013 to 2019. The Zn application significantly improved the crop yields, system sustainability, DTPA-Zn, and different Zn pools without causing any environmental risk. In general, the continuous application of Zn at 5.0 kg ha⁻¹ produced the best yield and system productivity. The economically optimal system productivity was obtained with 5.93 and 7.46 kg Zn ha⁻¹ for alternate and continuous frequency Zn application, respectively. The optimal DTPA-Zn to attain the highest system productivity of 7.64 t ha⁻¹ was 1.55 mg kg⁻¹. The crop yields were mainly influenced by the alternate and continuous application of Zn at lower rates (2.5, 5.0, and 7.5 kg ha⁻¹), whereas Zn fractions and DTPA-Zn were significantly influenced by Zn application at higher rate (10 kg ha⁻¹) irrespective of Zn application frequencies. Similar results were obtained with PCA analysis. The results of this study suggested the rationality of Zn application in attaining economically viable and environmentally sound maize-wheat system productivity.

在全球范围内，普遍存在的微量营养素缺乏已成为维持作物生产系统和粮食安全的严峻挑战。在所有微量营养素中，锌 (Zn) 是最缺乏的一种。因此，有效的锌管理对于实现潜在的作物产量至关重要。以玉米-小麦种植系统为典型的Hapludalfs进行了为期六年的田间试验，分别研究了直接和残留锌管理对玉米和后续小麦作物的影响。还评估了对土壤有效锌的影响。三个锌应用频率，即。一次（单年）、交替（每隔年）和连续（每年）四种锌施用率，即。2.5、5.0、7.5 和 10.0 千克公顷^-1从 2013 年到 2019 年调查了一个对照（无锌）。锌的应用显着提高了作物产量、系统可持续性、DTPA-Zn 和不同的锌池，而不会造成任何环境风险。一般而言，以 5.0 kg ha ^-1连续施用 Zn 可产生最佳产量和系统生产率。对于交替和连续频率施锌，分别使用 5.93 和 7.46 kg Zn ha ^{-1获得了经济上最优的系统生产率。}达到 7.64 t ha ^-1的最高系统生产率的最佳 DTPA-Zn 为1.55 mg kg ^-1。作物产量主要受到交替和连续施用锌的影响（2.5、5.0 和 7.5 kg ha ^-1)，而无论锌的施用频率如何，锌分数和 DTPA-Zn 都受到较高速率 (10 kg ha ^{-1 ) 的锌施用的显着影响。}使用 PCA 分析获得了类似的结果。这项研究的结果表明，在获得经济可行和环境无害的玉米-小麦系统生产力方面，施锌是合理的。