Abstract
Zinc (Zn) and iron (Fe) deficiencies remain major constraints to rice production and human nutrition in many rice‐growing regions due to limited micronutrient availability in paddy soils. This study evaluated the effect of gamma‐irradiated rhizosphere microbial consortia on grain Zn and Fe accumulation in 43 rice genotypes under field conditions. A randomized complete block design with four replications compared irradiated and nonirradiated microbial consortia consisting of
Azotobacter
sp.,
Bacillus circulans
,
Trichoderma harzianum
, and
Aspergillus niger
. Agronomic traits, grain yield, and grain Zn and Fe concentrations were analyzed using analysis of variance, paired
t
‐tests, principal component analysis (PCA), and
K
‐means clustering validated by the elbow method. Gamma‐irradiated microbial inoculation significantly increased grain Zn and Fe concentrations by 9.10% and 6.51%, respectively (
p
< 0.05), without significantly affecting grain yield. PCA and clustering analyses revealed substantial phenotypic diversity among genotypes and identified G10, G3, G9, G36, G39, and G43 as promising candidates for rice biofortification because of their superior micronutrient accumulation. These findings indicate that integrating gamma‐irradiated microbial inoculation with multivariate analysis is an effective approach for identifying nutrient‐efficient rice genotypes and supports the development of biofortified rice cultivars for sustainable agricultural production.