Miss Miss Seyyede Khamsa Asbaghian Namini Elite graduate

Lecturer

Tarbiat Modares UniversityIran

Research focus

She is a well-known researcher with a remarkable scientific background who works in the field of soil pollution with heavy metals and its management and control strategies. She is very interested in working in the field of environment and natural resources sustainable management. Increasing the production of agricultural products and paying special attention to the production of healthy agricultural products in order to achieve food security are her main goals. Here, You can find the Abstract of her newest research on Cadmium accumulation in potato tubers as a health-threatening factor in the human body: Contamination of tuberous vegetables such as potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) with cadmium (Cd) and nitrate (NO3-) due to the imbalanced fertilization may pose health risks to consumers. Potato is one of the dominant agricultural vegetables in Iran which is consumed in different ways. Excessive amounts of Cd and NO3- in potatoes can lead to organ dysfunction and various diseases. The aim of this study was to investigate the role of Zn-fertilizers on increasing yield and reducing the Cd concentration and also monitoring the NO3- content in potato tubers of Ardabil province. For this purpose, In the first phase, potato tubers were sampled from 10 most important markets in the form of imbalanced completely randomized design in 2019 and the concentration of Cd when consumed with and without potato peel was assessed, then, in the second phase, the effect of Zn-fertilizers on the yield and concentration of Cd in high-risk areas was investigated in 2020 growing season. The results indicated that the maximum concentration of Cd among the samples was 0.14 mg kg-1 fresh weight and the minimum was 0.02 mg kg-1 fresh weight. According to the results, there was no significant difference between potato samples analyzed with peel and without peel. Therefore, in the second phase, in order to investigate the effect of Zn-fertilizers topdressing on potato tubers yield and Cd concentration, an experiment was conducted in randomized complete block design with 3 treatments and 3 replications in Ardabil University’s farm. Experimental treatments were the T1 (control) = Farmer’s conventional fertilization with no Zn-fertilizer; T2 = T1 + 2 kg ha-1 Zn-chelate; T3 = T2 + applying 50 kg ha-1 soluble sulfate potassium containing Zn-chelate. The results illustrated that in control plots, while the yield was 23.3 tons per ha and the percentage of dry matter was 19.0 percent, the significant increase (p<0.01) up to 34.0 tons per ha with 24 percent of dry matter was obtained in SSOP+Zn chelate treatment. Also there was a significant difference (p<0.01) between Cd concentration in control treatment and treatments in which Zn-fertilizers have been used. The maximum Cd concentration has observed in control treatment with 0.13 mg kg-1 fresh weight and the minimum has obtained from SSOP+Zn chelate treatment by 0.01 mg kg-1 fresh weight. About Nitrate concentration in potato tubers of the field area, all data were located below the threshold concentration (60 mg kg-1 fresh weight). Therefore, for obtaining healthy agricultural products, using Zn-fertilizers in the agricultural soils with Zn deficiency should be considered seriously. By practicing balanced fertilization, i.e. applying Zn-fertilizers especially by topdressing method, the quality and quantity of agricultural products as potato will be upgraded and the Cd and NO3- concentration will be decreased significantly, the country's quality of nutrition will improve and hence, the problem of malnutrition will be solved.

SDG targets

2.1

Universal access to safe and nutritious food

2.2

End all forms of malnutrition

2.3

Double the productivity and incomes of small-scale food producers

2.4

Sustainable food production and resilient agricultural practices

2.5

Maintain the genetic diversity in food production

2.A

Invest in rural infrastructure, agricultural research, technology and gene banks

2.B

Prevent agricultural trade restrictions, market distortions and export subsidies

2.C

Ensure stable food commodity markets and timely access to infomation

3.1

Reduce maternal mortality

3.2

End all preventable deaths under 5 years of age

3.3

Fight communicable diseases

3.4

Reduce mortality from non-communicable diseases and promote mental health

3.5

Prevent and treat substance abuse

3.6

Reduce road injuries and deaths

3.7

Universial access to sexual and reproductive care, family planning and education

3.8

Achieve universal health coverage

3.9

Reduce illnesses and death from hazardous chemicals and pollution

3.A

Implement the WHO framework convention on tobacco control

3.B

Support research, development and universal access to affordable vaccines and medicines

3.C

Increase health financing and support health workforce in developing countries

3.D

Improve early warning systems for global health risks

13.1

Strengthen resilience and adaptive capacity to climate related disasters

13.2

Integrate climate change measures into policies and planning

13.3

Build knowledge and capacity to meet climate change

13.A

Implement the UN framework convention on climate change

13.B

Promote mechanisms to raise capacity for planning and management

Projects

Study on the Cadmium concentration in potato tubers and the role of Zinc fertilizers on it's reduction

Critique of the contradictions in the expression of the permissible limit of nitrate and cadmium in agricultural products and provide their logical limit in Iran.

The effect of Zinc chelate and Potassium sulfate topdressing on alleviating the Cadmium (Cd) and Nitrate (NO3-) toxicity in potato tubers of Ardabil, Iran.