Foliar Fertilization

Foliar fertilization is the application of fertilizers directly to the leaves. It could be successful when mineral elements are not available immediately in the soil or not readily translocated to edible tissues [93,106]. Pulse crops were biofortified with micronutrients, Fe, Zn, and Se, through foliar application in various studies that resulted in increased levels of these micronutrients in the harvested grain. Márquez-Quiroz et al. [107] reported increased concentration of Fe (29–32%) in seeds of cowpeas. Ali et al. [108] reported increased Fe concentration (46%) in mungbeans upon foliar application of Fe. Similarly, foliar application of Fe and Zn significantly increased the concentration of these minerals along with protein in seeds of cowpeas [109] and chickpeas [110].

Shivay et al. [111] observed a correlation between Zn uptake and the grain yield of chickpeas following foliar application of Zn, and reported that this approach was better than soil application. Similarly, Hidoto et al. [112] evaluated the e ffects of three Zn fertilization strategies on five varieties of chickpeas and observed that foliar application was an e ffective method for Zn biofortification with a greater accumulation of Zn in grain compared to soil application and seed priming. Foliar application of Zn fertilizer for Zn biofortification was also reported in common beans [113–115] and field peas [102].

Increased concentration of Se was reported in seeds of peas [116], chickpeas [117], common beans [118], and lentils [119] upon foliar application of Se fertilizers. Further, increased concentration of I was observed in various crops by foliar application, and this could prevent I deficiency in human populations with low dietary I intake [55].
