ABSTRACT
Field experiments were conducted on wheat to study the effects of foliar-applied iodine(I) alone, Zn (zinc) alone, and a micronutrient cocktail solution containing I, Zn, Se (selenium), and Fe (iron) on grain yield and grain concentrations of micronutrients. Plants were grown over 2 years in China, India, Mexico, Pakistan, South Africa, and Turkey. Grain-Zn was increased from 28.6 mg kg-1 to 46.0 mg-1 kg with Zn-spray and 47.1 mg-1 kg with micronutrient cocktail spray. Foliar-applied I and micronutrient cocktail increased grain I from 24 µg kg-1 to 361 µg kg-1 and 249 µg kg-1, respectively. Micronutrient cocktail also increased grain-Se from 90 µg kg-1 to 338 µg kg-1 in all countries. Average increase in grain-Fe by micronutrient cocktail solution was about 12%. The results obtained demonstrated that foliar application of a cocktail micronutrient solution represents an effective strategy to biofortify wheat simultaneously with Zn, I, Se and partly with Fe without yield trade-off in wheat.
Subject(s)
Biofortification/methods , Crop Production/methods , Iodine/metabolism , Iron/metabolism , Selenium/metabolism , Triticum/metabolism , Zinc/metabolism , China , Fertilizers/analysis , India , Iodine/analysis , Iron/analysis , Mexico , Micronutrients/analysis , Micronutrients/metabolism , Pakistan , Plant Leaves/chemistry , Plant Leaves/metabolism , Seeds/chemistry , Seeds/growth & development , Seeds/metabolism , Selenium/analysis , South Africa , Triticum/chemistry , Triticum/growth & development , Turkey , Zinc/analysisABSTRACT
The Breast Clinic at Ga-Rankuwa Hospital/MEDUNSA serves a large population of black South Africans. The patients present at a young age and commonly with very advanced disease. Problems in follow-up are more complex in this group because of difficulties with finance, transport and communication. The very large number of cases lost to follow-up and regular supervision after completion of treatment militates against collecting data for accurate reporting of results. An account is given of our experience in dealing with 532 cases of breast carcinoma seen over a period of 6 years.
