GEMAS: Mapping zinc deficiency in agricultural and grazing land soil in Europe

Zinc is an important nutrient needed for healthy growth of crops and well-being of humans and animals. Worldwide, many regions with active agriculture experience severe zinc deficiency which can be easily remediated by using... [ view full abstract ]

Zinc is an important nutrient needed for healthy growth of crops and well-being of humans and animals. Worldwide, many regions with active agriculture experience severe zinc deficiency which can be easily remediated by using zinc-enforced fertilisers. Zinc deficiency appears to be the most widespread micronutrient deficiency problem in crop and pasture and it affects one-third of the world’s population.
Within the GEMAS Project (GEochemical Mapping of Agricultural and grazing land Soil), agricultural (Ap) and grazing land (Gr) soil were collected from 33 countries in Europe. Zn concentrations in soil were determined by ICP-MS after an aqua regia extraction (median=45 mg/kg in Ap) and after weak MMI® extraction (median=0.76 mg/kg in Ap) and total concentrations - by XRF (median=60 mg/kg in Ap).
Generally, zinc concentrations in soil are higher in southern Europe than in northern and central Europe where significant deficiency is related to the dominance of young sandy soil (e.g. Poland) and loess deposits (Ukraine, Hungary). Northernmost regions in Scandinavia are particularly depleted in zinc mainly, due to low soil pH and high TOC which control the removal of zinc from the soil layer. In Spain, the main cause of the zinc deficiency is the high content of calcium carbonate in soil (limestone in the bedrock). Deficiency in northern France can be explained by a combination of factors such as low soil pH, parent materials composed of Cretaceous to Tertiary sedimentary rocks of the Paris Basin and excessive phosphate fertilisation which usually has antagonistic effect on zinc content in soil.