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. 2021 Jan 28;10(2):254.
doi: 10.3390/plants10020254.

Plant Available Zinc Is Influenced by Landscape Position in the Amhara Region, Ethiopia

Mesfin K Desta  1   2 , Martin R Broadley  2 , Steve P McGrath  1 , Javier Hernandez-Allica  1 , Kirsty L Hassall  1 , Samuel Gameda  3 , Tilahun Amede  4 , Stephan M Haefele  1
Affiliations

Plant Available Zinc Is Influenced by Landscape Position in the Amhara Region, Ethiopia

Mesfin K Desta et al. Plants (Basel). .

Abstract

Zinc (Zn) is an important element determining the grain quality of staple food crops and deficient in many Ethiopian soils. However, farming systems are highly variable in Ethiopia due to different soil types and landscape cropping positions. Zinc availability and uptake by plants from soil and fertilizer sources are governed by the retention and release potential of the soil, usually termed as adsorption and desorption, respectively. The aim of this study was to characterize the amount of plant available Zn at different landscape positions. During the 2018/19 cropping season, adsorption-desorption studies were carried out on soil samples collected from on-farm trials conducted at Aba Gerima, Debre Mewi and Markuma in the Amhara Region. In all locations and landscape positions, adsorption and desorption increased with increasing Zn additions. The amount of adsorption and desorption was highly associated with the soil pH, the soil organic carbon concentration and cation exchange capacity, and these factors are linked to landscape positions. The Freundlich isotherm fitted very well to Zn adsorption (r2 0.87-0.99) and desorption (r2 0.92-0.99), while the Langmuir isotherm only fitted to Zn desorption (r2 0.70-0.93). Multiple regression models developed by determining the most influential soil parameters for Zn availability could be used to inform Zn fertilizer management strategies for different locations and landscape positions in this region, and thereby improve plant Zn use efficiency.

Keywords: Adsorption; desorption; isotherm; landscape position; plant available Zn.

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Conflict of interest statement

The funders had no role in the design of the study; in the collection, analyses, or interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript, or in the decision to publish the results.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Location of the study sites in the Amhara region, Ethiopia.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Stock solution concentration on adsorbed and desorbed Zn along the landscape positions.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Percentage of adsorbed and desorbed Zn along the landscape positions.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Adsorption data fitted to the Freundlich isotherm.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Desorption data fitted to the Langmuir isotherm.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Desorption data fitted to the Freundlich isotherm.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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