An effective strategy to improve grain zinc concentration of winter wheat, Aphids prevention and farmers’ income

Cost of agronomic biofortification of wheat with zinc in China

“…When a combined foliar application of Zn fertilizer plus pesticide is sprayed, however, the labor cost drops, and only US$ 41 to US$ 108 is needed to save one "disability-adjusted life year" (Table 2). Field studies have shown that the Zn concentration in wheat grain is similar whether the Zn is sprayed alone or plus with pesticide (Ram et al 2015(Ram et al , 2016Wang et al 2015). Moreover, the combined application of Zn fertilizer and pesticide is becoming increasingly practical and less expensive under the specialized and integrated management which is compatible with the characteristic of intensive agriculture in China.…”

“…As a result, the agronomic biofortification of wheat with Zn has not been widely adopted even though the true cost of such biofortification is unknown, i.e., a comprehensive costeffectiveness analysis in wheat-dominated regions has not been conducted (Joy et al 2015). In contrast, to the labor cost, several recent studies have indicated that labor costs generated by the agronomic biofortification of wheat with Zn could be substantially reduced by including Zn fertilizer in the routine spraying of foliar pesticide (Ram et al 2015(Ram et al , 2016Wang et al 2015; Fig. 1).…”

“…Therefore, items contributing to the cost of agronomic biofortification of wheat with Zn should be defined. Based on our field studies and rural surveys Zou et al 2012;Wang et al 2015) and on the recent prices of commodities in China, we estimated the costs of agronomic biofortification ( Table 2). The costs include Zn fertilizer, agricultural equipment (motorized sprayer and water tank), and labor and extension services, but do not include social marketing when the foliar Zn application was conducted alone.…”

“…In most practical situations, the combined foliar application of Zn fertilizer plus pesticide is employed (Ram S-W single wheat plantation, W-M wheat-maize rotation, W-R wheat-rice rotation a,b Initial and improved grain Zn content under the pessimistic scenario was based on field studies in China (Zhang 2012), while grain Zn content under the optimistic scenario was based on field studies in multiple countries c Based on 85 % flour yield (Tang et al 2008) d Based on Bouis et al (2011) e Based on and updated from genetic biofortification studies (Stein et al 2005;Stein et al 2007;De Steur et al 2012). Here, the basic assumption of coverage rate is that all consumers replace a certain percentage (20 or 60 %) of their consumption with the biofortified wheat and continue to consume some unfortified wheat in parallel, because biofortified and non-biofortificated wheat cannot be distinguished based on appearance (Stein et al 2005) f Based on the China National Nutrition and Health Survey 2002 (Chai 2009) g Based on the WHO recommended nutrition intake levels for Zn in developing countries (Allen et al 2006) et al , 2016Wang et al 2015). This combined application could substantially reduce the labor cost but might double the extension cost because of the increased need for government and social publicities.…”

Valuing increased zinc (Zn) fertiliser-use in Pakistan

“…Second, no account has been taken of residual benefits of Zn fertilisers on subsequent crop yields or grain Zn composition. However, residual effects are likely to provide benefits for several years for both wheat and other crops (NFDC 1998;Singh and Shivay 2013;Manzeke et al 2014;Wang et al 2015b). Third, foliar Zn applications could make up a larger proportion of future Zn fertiliser-use, especially if it is applied in conjunction with pesticide sprays to minimise additional costs of application (Wang et al 2015a;Ram et al 2016).…”