Cadmium (Cd) contamination in agricultural soils poses a significant risk to crop productivity and food safety, highlighting the need for effective mitigation strategies. This study introduces a novel approach to alleviate Cd-induced stress in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) by applying zinc (Zn) to the soil, aiming to enhance both crop resilience and grain Zn content. Conducted at the University of Agriculture Faisalabad during the winter season of 2022-23, the experiment utilized a Completely Randomized Design (CRD) with a factorial arrangement and three replicates. Treatments included combinations of three Cd levels (0 mg/kg, 5 mg/kg, and 15 mg/kg) and three Zn levels (0 mg/kg, 30 mg/kg, and 60 mg/kg).

The findings reveal that Cd stress markedly inhibited wheat growth, with the most severe impacts on plant height, biomass, grain yield, chlorophyll content, and photosynthetic rate observed at 15 mg/kg Cd. Remarkably, Zn application effectively counteracted these effects, particularly at high Cd levels. Specifically, Zn improved plant height by 24%, shoot biomass by 10%, chlorophyll content and photosynthetic rate by 6.4% and 80%, respectively, and grain yield by 41%, while increasing biological yield by 11%. Notably, Zn application at 60 mg/kg not only elevated grain Zn content by 20% and protein content by 9% but also reduced grain Cd content by up to 38% compared to the control with 15 mg/kg Cd.

This study underscores the innovative use of Zn to simultaneously mitigate Cd-induced stress and improve the nutritional quality of wheat grains. The significant improvement in both growth parameters and grain quality with Zn application highlights its potential as a dual-purpose strategy for enhancing crop resilience and nutritional value, offering new insights into sustainable soil management and biofortification practices.