This study investigates soil organic carbon enhancement and greenhouse gas mitigation using innovative slow-release micronutrient fertilizers in both greenhouse and field trials for wheat ( Triticum aestivum ) cultivation. In the greenhouse trial cultivating spring wheat, CO₂ and N 2 O emissions, soil carbon levels, yield, and above-ground biomass were measured to determine the relative carbon balance and to assess the viability of Soileos and Nutreos products, two innovative slow-release fertilizers designed for carbon sequestration. Additionally, four field trials were conducted using different wheat varieties, comparing total soil carbon in fields treated with the Soileos Zinc product to the Grower Standard Practice (GSP). In greenhouse trials, Soileos and Nutreos fertilizers promoted soil health by enhancing microbial activity, as evidenced by increased soil respiration rates and final soil carbon content. The relative carbon balance of treatments using slow-release Soileos micronutrient fertilizer and Nutreos micronutrient seed coatings improved by 15% - 25% over the GSP, compared to a 2% - 13% improvement in treatments using sulfate-based micronutrient fertilizers. In field trials, the average total soil organic carbon in soils treated with the slow-release Soileos fertilizer improved by about 11% compared to the GSP, aligning with greenhouse results. Additionally, wheat yield increased in three out of four field trials using Soileos Zinc micronutrient. Consequently, these findings suggest that Soileos and Nutreos slow-release fertilizers can enhance soil carbon sequestration. By enhancing soil health and promoting soil organic carbon in greenhouse and field trials within a single growing season, these fertilizers contribute to an improved carbon balance in agricultural production.
Menegat, S., Ledo, A. and Tirado, R. (2022) Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Global Production and Use of Nitrogen Synthetic Fertilisers in Agriculture. Scientific Reports , 12, Article No. 14490. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-18773-w
Rahman, N. and Schoenau, J. (2020) Response of Wheat, Pea, and Canola to Micronutrient Fertilization on Five Contrasting Prairie Soils. Scientific Reports , 10, Article No. 18818. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-75911-y
Liu, Y., Cao, W., Chen, X., Yu, B., Lang, M., Chen, X., et al. (2020) The Responses of Soil Enzyme Activities, Microbial Biomass and Microbial Community Structure to Nine Years of Varied Zinc Application Rates. Science of the Total Environment , 737, Article ID: 140245. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.140245
Noor, M., Kiran, A., Shahbaz, M., Sanaullah, M. and Wakeel, A. (2024) Root System Architecture Associated Zinc Variability in Wheat ( Triticum aestivum L.). Scientific Reports , 14, Article No. 1781. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-52338-3
Iqbal, S., Farid, M., Zubair, M., Asam, Z.U.Z., Ali, S., Abubakar, M., et al. (2022) Efficacy of Various Amendments for the Phytomanagement of Heavy Metal Contaminated Sites and Sustainable Agriculture. a Review. In: Hasanuzzaman, M., Ahammed, G.J. and Nahar, K., Eds., Managing Plant Production Under Changing Environment , Springer, 239-272. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-5059-8_9
Cakmak, I., Brown, P., Colmenero-Flores, J.M., Husted, S., Kutman, B.Y., Nikolic, M., et al. (2023) Micronutrients. In: Rengel, Z., Cakmak, I. and White, P.J., Eds., Marschner ’ s Mineral Nutrition of Plants , Elsevier, 283-385. https://doi.org/10.1016/b978-0-12-819773-8.00017-4
Srivastav, A.L., Patel, N., Rani, L., Kumar, P., Dutt, I., Maddodi, B.S., et al. (2023) Sustainable Options for Fertilizer Management in Agriculture to Prevent Water Contamination: A Review. Environment , Development and Sustainability , 26, 8303-8327. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10668-023-03117-z
Lawrencia, D., Wong, S.K., Low, D.Y.S., Goh, B.H., Goh, J.K., Ruktanonchai, U.R., et al. (2021) Controlled Release Fertilizers: A Review on Coating Materials and Mechanism of Release. Plants , 10, Article 238. https://doi.org/10.3390/plants10020238
Firmanda, A., Fahma, F., Syamsu, K., Mahardika, M., Suryanegara, L., Munif, A., et al. (2024) Biopolymer-Based Slow/Controlled-Release Fertilizer (SRF/CRF): Nutrient Release Mechanism and Agricultural Sustainability. Journal of Environmental Chemical Engineering , 12, Article ID: 112177. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jece.2024.112177
Langlet, R., Valentin, R., Morard, M. and Raynaud, C.D. (2024) Transitioning to Microplastic-Free Seed Coatings: Challenges and Solutions. Polymers , 16, Article 1969. https://doi.org/10.3390/polym16141969
Branda, N.R., Nourmohammadian, F. and Gross, P. (2023) Compositions, Systems and Methods for Delivery of an Element in Response to Biological Demand. United States Patent No. US11691928B2.
Lucent Biosciences Inc. (2022) Soileos Bio-Active Crop Nutrition. https://soileos.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Soileos-Bio-Active-Crop-Nutrition.pdf
Compost Methods (Agricultural Analytical Services Lab) (2025) Agricultural Analytical Services Lab (Penn State College of Agricultural Sciences). https://agsci.psu.edu/aasl/compost-testing/methods
Fowler, A.F., Basso, B., Millar, N. and Brinton, W.F. (2023) A Simple Soil Mass Correction for a More Accurate Determination of Soil Carbon Stock Changes. Scientific Reports , 13, Article No. 2242. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-29289-2
Kumar, A., Singh, V., Shabnam, S. and Oraon, P.R. (2020) Carbon Emission, Sequestration, Credit and Economics of Wheat under Poplar Based Agroforestry System. Carbon Management , 11, 673-679. https://doi.org/10.1080/17583004.2020.1840875
R Core Team (2023) R: A Language and Environment for Statistical Computing. [Computer Software]. R Foundation for Statistical Computing. https://www.R-project.org/
de Mendiburu, F. (2006) Agricolae: Statistical Procedures for Agricultural Research. [Computer Software]. https://CRAN.R-project.org/package=agricolae
Ben-Shachar, M.S., Makowski, D., Lüdecke, D., Patil, I., Wiernik, B.M., Thériault, R., Kelley, K., Stanley, D., Caldwell, A., Burnett, J., Karreth, J. and Waggoner, P. (2024) Effectsize: Indices of Effect Size. [Computer Software]. (Version 1.0.0). https://cran.r-project.org/web/packages/effectsize/index.html
Ryu, C. (2024) DLOOKR: Tools for Data Diagnosis, Exploration, Transformation. [Computer Software]. (Version 0.6.3). https://cran.r-project.org/web/packages/dlookr/index.html
Wickham, H., François, R., Henry, L., Müller, K., Vaughan, D., Software, P. and PBC. (2023) DPLYR: A Grammar of Data Manipulation. [Computer Software]. (Version 1.1.4). https://cran.r-project.org/web/packages/dplyr/index.html
Wickham, H., Chang, W., Henry, L., Pedersen, T.L., Takahashi, K., Wilke, C., Woo, K., Yutani, H., Dunnington, D., Brand, T. and van den Posit, P.B.C. (2024) GGPLOT2: Create Elegant Data Visualisations Using the Grammar of Graphics. [Computer Software]. (Version 3.5.1). https://cran.r-project.org/web/packages/ggplot2/index.html
Shah, A., Huang, J., Han, T., Khan, M.N., Tadesse, K.A., Daba, N.A., et al. (2024) Correction: Impact of Soil Moisture Regimes on Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Soil Microbial Biomass, and Enzymatic Activity in Long-Term Fertilized Paddy Soil. Environmental Sciences Europe , 36, Article No. 120. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12302-024-00957-y
Saquee, F.S., Diakite, S., Kavhiza, N.J., Pakina, E. and Zargar, M. (2023) The Efficacy of Micronutrient Fertilizers on the Yield Formulation and Quality of Wheat Grains. Agronomy , 13, Article 566. https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy13020566
Behtash, F., Abedini, F., Ahmadi, H., Mosavi, S.B., Aghaee, A., Morshedloo, M.R., et al. (2022) Zinc Application Mitigates Copper Toxicity by Regulating Cu Uptake, Activity of Antioxidant Enzymes, and Improving Physiological Characteristics in Summer Squash. Antioxidants , 11, Article 1688. https://doi.org/10.3390/antiox11091688
Wyszkowska, J., Borowik, A., Kucharski, M. and Kucharski, J. (2013) Effect of Cadmium, Copper and Zinc on Plants, Soil Microorganisms and Soil Enzymes. Journal of Elementology , 18, 769-796.
McCall, K.A., Huang, C. and Fierke, C.A. (2000) Function and Mechanism of Zinc Metalloenzymes. The Journal of Nutrition , 130, 1437S-1446S. https://doi.org/10.1093/jn/130.5.1437s
Kumar, A., Rana, K.S., Choudhary, A.K., Bana, R.S., Sharma, V.K., Gupta, G., et al. (2022) Sole-or Dual-Crop Basis Residue Mulching and Zn Fertilization Lead to Improved Productivity, Rhizo-Modulation and Soil Health in Zero-Tilled Pigeonpea-Wheat Cropping System. Journal of Soil Science and Plant Nutrition , 22, 1193-1214. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42729-021-00723-6
Hein, S. and Simon, J. (2019) Bacterial Nitrous Oxide Respiration: Electron Transport Chains and Copper Transfer Reactions. In: Poole, R.K., Ed., Advances in Microbial Physiology , Elsevier, 137-175. https://doi.org/10.1016/bs.ampbs.2019.07.001
Broadley, M.R., White, P.J., Hammond, J.P., Zelko, I. and Lux, A. (2007) Zinc in plants. New Phytologist , 173, 677-702. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-8137.2007.01996.x
Sehgal, Y., Kalia, A., Dhillon, B.S. and Dheri, G.S. (2024) Effect of a Slow-Release Urea Nanofertilizer on Soil Microflora and Yield of Direct Seeded Rice ( Oryza sativa L.). Nitrogen , 5, 1074-1091. https://doi.org/10.3390/nitrogen5040069
Dhaliwal, S.S., Shukla, A.K., Behera, S.K., Dubey, S.K., Mandal, A., Randhawa, M.K., et al. (2024) Fertilization and Soil Ploughing Practices under Changing Physical Environment Lead to Soil Organic Carbon Dynamics under Conservation Agriculture in Rice-Wheat Cropping System: A Scoping Review. Agricultural Sciences , 15, 82-113. https://doi.org/10.4236/as.2024.151006
Wang, N., Ai, Z., Zhang, Q., Leng, P., Qiao, Y., Li, Z., et al. (2025) Influence of Long-Term Inorganic Fertilization and Straw Incorporation on Soil Organic Carbon: Roles of Enzyme Activity, Labile Organic Carbon Fractions, Soil Aggregates, and Microbial Traits. Agriculture , Ecosystems & Environment , 392, Article ID: 109758. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agee.2025.109758
Sokolowski, A.C., Álvarez, V.E., Mangiarotti, A., Gonçalves Vila Cova, C., De Grazia, J., Rodríguez, H.A., et al. (2023) Multidimensional Performance of Periurban Horticulture: Assessing Agroecological Transition and Soil Health. Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems , 48, 281-310. https://doi.org/10.1080/21683565.2023.2279972
Wang, J., Feng, J., Jia, W., Chang, S., Li, S. and Li, Y. (2015) Lignin Engineering through Laccase Modification: A Promising Field for Energy Plant Improvement. Biotechnology for Biofuels , 8, Article No. 145. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13068-015-0331-y
Kabata-Pendias, A. and Mukherjee, A.B. (2007) Trace Elements from Soil to Human. Springer.
Zhang, J., Sewell, C.D., Huang, H. and Lin, Z. (2021) Closing the Anthropogenic Chemical Carbon Cycle toward a Sustainable Future via CO 2 Valorization. Advanced Energy Materials , 11, Article ID: 2102767. https://doi.org/10.1002/aenm.202102767
Schnecker, J., Baldaszti, L., Gündler, P., Pleitner, M., Sandén, T., Simon, E., et al. (2023) Seasonal Dynamics of Soil Microbial Growth, Respiration, Biomass, and Carbon Use Efficiency in Temperate Soils. Geoderma , 440, Article ID: 116693. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoderma.2023.116693
Meena, R.S., Kumar, S. and Yadav, G.S. (2019) Soil Carbon Sequestration in Crop Production. In: Meena, R., Ed., Nutrient Dynamics for Sustainable Crop Production , Springer, 1-39. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-8660-2_1
Xu, S., Sheng, C. and Tian, C. (2020) Changing Soil Carbon: Influencing Factors, Sequestration Strategy and Research Direction. Carbon Balance and Management , 15, Article No. 2. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13021-020-0137-5