Biological Sciences
Plant Nutrition
Plant nutrition refers to the process by which plants obtain and utilize essential nutrients for growth and development. These nutrients include macronutrients such as nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium, as well as micronutrients like iron, zinc, and manganese. Plants absorb these nutrients from the soil or water, and deficiencies or imbalances can lead to stunted growth, poor yield, or susceptibility to diseases.
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eBook - PDFBiochemical Aspects Of Plant Physiology
Technology And Methodology
- Bhattacharya, A. Vijaya Luxmi(Authors)
- 2021(Publication Date)
- NEW INDIA PUBLISHING AGENCY (NIPA)(Publisher)
C HAPTER 12 Plant Nutrition Plant Nutrition is the study of the chemical elements and compounds that are necessary for plant growth, and also of their external supply and internal metabolism. The criteria for an element to be essential for plant growth: 1. In its absence the plant is unable to complete a normal life cycle; or 2. That the element is part of some essential plant constituent or metabolite. This is in accordance with Liebig’s law of the minimum. There are 14 essential plant nutrients. Carbon and oxygen are absorbed from the air, while other nutrients including water are obtained from the soil. Plants must obtain the following mineral nutrients from the growing media: the primary macronutrients: nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), potassium (K) the three secondary macronutrients: calcium (Ca), sulphur (S), magnesium (Mg) the micronutrients/trace minerals: boron (B), chlorine (Cl), manganese (Mn), iron (Fe), zinc (Zn), copper (Cu), molybdenum (Mo) and nickel (Ni) The macronutrients are consumed in larger quantities and are present in plant tissue in quantities from 0.2% to 4.0% (on a dry matter weight basis). Micro nutrients are present in plant tissue in quantities measured in parts per million, ranging from 5 to 200 ppm, or less than 0.02% dry weight. Most soil conditions across the world can provide plants with adequate nutrition and do not require fertilizer for a complete life cycle. However, humans can artificially modify soil through the addition of fertilizer to promote vigorous growth and increase yield. The plants are able to obtain their required nutrients from the fertilizer added to the soil. A colloidal carbonaceous residue, known 374 Biochemical Aspects of Plant Physiology: Technology & Methodology as humus, can serve as a nutrient reservoir. Even with adequate water and sunshine, nutrient defiency can limit growth.
eBook - PDF- Mohammad Waseemul Islam(Author)
- 2019(Publication Date)
- Delve Publishing(Publisher)
This chapter also emphasizes the deficiency symptoms caused due to low supply of essential minerals to the plants. Moreover, this chapter provides insights about the mechanism of absorption of elements, which includes nutrient uptake by roots, and foliar nutrition of plants. Additionally, this chapter also highlights the various modes of nutrition in plants. This chapter also mention about the metabolism process of nitrogen such as significance of nitrogen cycle and biological nitrogen fixation. 3.1. INTRODUCTION As we already know that all the living and breathing, organisms need food for their living and survival, growth as well as procreation and utilize the food elements for their developmental need. A series of processes are dealt in the processing of food by plants, breaking down the food into simpler digesting substances and utilization of these simpler substances for life processes. Nutrition in plants may thus explain as a process of processing of food, it’s breaking, and utilization for different functions in the organism. The chemical materials in food are called nutrients such as carbon dioxide, water, minerals, carbohydrate, protein, fats, etc. Green plants can make their own organic food from normal substance like water and carbon dioxide through the systemic of photosynthesis and are called autotrophs that made up of two words auto and trophos, which implies self-feeding. And the non-green plants and other organisms which cannot prepare their own self prepared food and obtain nutrition from green plants are called heterotrophs (Figure 3.1). Mineral Nutrition in Plants 65 Figure 3.1: Hydroponics. Source: https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2826/33185459271_18f78b863f_b.jpg Now we will move towards how plants get their nutrients. We already know that carbohydrates are synthesized by the process of photosynthesis.
eBook - PDFAgronomic Handbook
Management of Crops, Soils and Their Fertility
- J. Benton Jones, Jr., Jr., J. Benton Jones(Authors)
- 2002(Publication Date)
- CRC Press(Publisher)
291 Plant Mineral Nutrition 10.1 BASIC PRINCIPLES Plant mineral nutrition is a science that studies the effects of elements on plant growth and development, determines the forms and conditions of availability and uptake, and establishes the ranges of beneficial and detrimental effects. Scientists began to unravel the mysteries of how green plants grow in the 1800s. A number of theories were put forth to explain plant growth, and through observation and carefully crafted experiments, scientists began to learn what was required for normal growth and development. It might be well to note that modern humus concept theories that relate to the forms in which elements exist in the soil and the forms that should be supplied to plants had their origins in theories developed by some of these early scientists. The ideas that the soil provided “food” for plants and that humus in the soil was the source of plant health still have their proponents. It is fairly well established that the form of an essential element, whether as an inorganic ion or originating from an organic matrix, is not a factor that determines the wellbeing of a plant. The combination of concentration and lability of an essential element determines a plant’s nutritional status. The early scientists discovered that the mass of a live plant was essentially composed of water and organic substances, and that total mineral matter constituted less than 10% and frequently less than 5% of the dry matter of most plants. The analysis of the mineral matter (ash) after the removal of water and destruction of the organic matter provided better understanding of the nutritional requirements of plants by revealing which elements were present in the ash and at what concen-trations. By 1890, scientists established plant requirements for C, H, O, N, P, S, K, Ca, Mg, and Fe. Their absence or low availability led to plant death or poor growth after exhibiting visual symptoms.
eBook - PDF- Jr. Jones(Author)
- 2012(Publication Date)
- CRC Press(Publisher)
15 3 Plant Nutrition Principles The use of the word “nutrition” can be confusing, as Plant Nutrition is a broad term that would apply to all aspects of plant growth. Plant mineral nutrition would relate to just the elements identified as minerals whose presence or absence could affect the growth of plants. Even the word mineral can be misleading as it has the connotation of being a compound of elements. Another word that has crept into the Plant Nutrition jargon is metal , which would refer to those elements that are identified as metals, such as Fe, Cu, Mn, and Zn. The other word that can be misunderstood is nutrient, as it does not specifically have the connotation as just being an element or mineral. In some instances, both nutrient and element are combined in defining those elements that are known as essential to be a nutri-ent element. Therefore in this chapter, Plant Nutrition is defined as the study of those elements that are essential for plants to grow, and the combination of words, essential plant nutrient element, will be used to identify those elements essential to plants. In the Wikipedia definition (www.Wikipedia.org) of Plant Nutrition, fourteen elements are given as essential nutrients (the author would choose the word “ele-ment” in place of “nutrient”), to include the element Ni, an element that has not been widely accepted as being essential, although its identification as a micronutrient is becoming commonplace in both the technical and scientific literature (see Chapter 13, “Elements Considered Beneficial to Plants”). The three elements C, H, and O are not considered plant nutrient elements in the Wikipedia definition. The author classifies these three as “structural elements” because they are the primary elements comprising those substances in plants that form the plant skeleton (cell walls, con-ductive tissue, etc.). There are several principles that apply to the subject of Plant Nutrition.
- Sarangi, Chittaranjan(Authors)
- 2020(Publication Date)
- NEW INDIA PUBLISHING AGENCY (NIPA)(Publisher)
Chapter 2 Essential Plant Nutrients Terminology Nutrient: Nutrients are substances required by an organism for their normal growth and reproduction. Plant Nutrient: The plant nutrient is a “food” which is composed of certain chemical elements often referred to as ‘plant nutrient’ or plant food elements considered very essential for growth and development of plants. Nutrition: The supply and absorption of chemical compounds needed for growth and metabolism of an organism. Plant nutrient elements are broadly grouped into two types. Essential Nutrients/ Elements Beneficial Nutrients/Elements A. Essential nutrients/elements Plants absorb or utilize more than 90 nutrient elements from the soil and other sources during their growth and development and about 64 nutrients have been identified in plants by their tissue analysis. But all are not essential for their growth and development. They require only 17 elements/nutrients. These 17 have been recognized as essential elements. They are; Carbon (C), Hydrogen (H), Calcium (Ca), Magnesium (Mg), Sulphur (S), Iron (Fe), Manganese (Mn), Zinc(Zn), Copper (Cu), Boron (B), Molybdenum (Mo), Chlorine (Cl), Nickel (Ni), Oxygen (O), Nitrogen (N), Phosphorous (P), Potassium (K). Of these element C, H, O together constitute 95-96% (C-45%, O-45%, H-6%). Subsequently N, P and K constitute 2.7% in plants. The other elements 10 Soil Fertility and Nutrient Management in Horticulture constitute only 1.3-1.4%. But all have definite roles to play in the growth and development. Among these Nickel is the latest nutrient addition to the list in 1987. Classification of essential nutrients Essential nutrients are classified in to two major groups based on relative utilization or absorption by the plants and also based on their biochemical behavior and physiological functions. Based on relative utilization or absorption by the plants A.
eBook - PDF- Nand Kumar Fageria(Author)
- 2012(Publication Date)
- CRC Press(Publisher)
plant. nutrition . . In:. Inorganic Plant Nutrition . .Encyclopaedia.and.Plant.Physiology.New.Series,.Vol . .15B,. eds., .A . .Lauchli.and.R . .L . .Bieleski,.pp . .453–480 . .New.York:.Springer.Verlag . Gifford,.R . .M ., .J . .H . .Thorne,.W . .Hitz,.and.R . .T . .Giaquinta . .1984 . .Crop.productivity.and.pho-toassimilate.partitioning . . Science .225:801–808 . Gourley,.C . .J . .P ., .D . .L . .Allan,.and.M . .P . .Russelle . .1994 . .Plant.nutrient.efficiency:.A.comparison. of.definitions.and.suggested.improvement . . Plant Soil .158:29–37 . Graham,.R . .D . .1984 . .Breeding.for.nutritional.characteristics.in.cereals . .In:. Advances in Plant Nutrition ,. Vol . . 1,. eds ., . P . . B . . Tinker. and. A . . Lauchi,. pp . . 57–102 . . New.York:. Praeger. Publisher. Grattan,. S . .R . . and. C . .M . . Grieve . . 1999a . . Salinity-mineral. nutrient. relations. in. horticultural. crops. . Sci. Hort . .78:127–157 . Grattan,. S . . R . . and. C . . M . . Grieve . . 1999b . . Mineral. nutrient. acquisition. and. response. by. plants. grown. in. saline. environments . . In:. Handbook of Plant and Crops Stress ,. ed ., . M. Pessarakli, .pp . .203–229 . .New.York:.Marcel.Dekker . Gregory,.P . .J . .1994 . .Root.growth.and.activity . .In:. Physiology and Determination of Crop Yield ,. eds., .K . .J . .Boote,.J . .M . .Bennett,.T . .R . .Sinclair,.and.G . .M . .Paulsen,.pp . .65–93 . .Madison,. WI:.ASA,.CSSA,.SSSA . Grundon,.N . .J . .1987 . . Hungry Crops: A Guide to Nutrient Deficiencies in Field Crops . .Brisbane,. Queensland,.Australia:.Department.of.Primary.Industries . Gupta,.R . .J . .and.I . .P . .Abrol . .1990 . .Salt-affected.soils:.Their.reclamation.and.management.for. crop.production . . Adv. Soil Sci . .11:223–288 119 Uptake of Nutrients by Roots Hay,.R . .K . .M . .1995 . .Harvest.index:.A.review.of.its.use.in.plant.breeding.and.crop.physiology . . Ann. Appl. Biol . .126:197–216 . Hillel,. D . . and.
eBook - PDF- Allen V. Barker(Author)
- 2016(Publication Date)
- CRC Press(Publisher)
17 3 Requirements of Plants for Soil-Derived Nutrients This chapter presents information on (1) the functions of nutrients in plants, (2) the effects of nutrients on plant growth and quality, (3) recognition of symptoms of deficiencies of nutrients, and (4) how to supply nutrients to plants. For most of the nutrients, specific metabolic functions in plants have been identified. Participation in these metabolic roles is a factor that makes an element essential. Because of the met-abolic disorders associated with shortages of a nutrient, limitations in supply of any nutrient may restrict plant growth, development, and yields and cause appearance of symptoms of deficiency. Often deficiencies of nutrients are expressed in lower qual-ity of produce. Increasing the supply of the nutrient will enhance growth and yields within limits and also will have effects on crop quality, for example, developing green color in a leafy vegetable crop. However, supply of nutrients in excess of the needs of a crop may have an adverse effect on crop quality, often lowering quality or suppressing harvest yields. Severe shortages of nutrients usually lead to development of symptoms of defi-ciency. Recognition of these symptoms is a useful way of identifying nutritional disorders in a crop. If the deficiency is detected in time, fertilization may restore crop productivity. If the deficiency is recognized too late for correction in the current crop, the grower is alerted that remedies need to be taken for the next season. Fertilizers are materials that carry plant nutrients to the soil. This chapter will present and evaluate organic and chemical fertilizers for each of the plant nutrients and will discuss practices that increase the nutrient-supplying capacity of soil.
eBook - PDF- Mary Ann Clark, Jung Choi, Matthew Douglas(Authors)
- 2018(Publication Date)
- Openstax(Publisher)
31.3 | Nutritional Adaptations of Plants By the end of this section, you will be able to do the following: • Understand the nutritional adaptations of plants • Describe mycorrhizae • Explain nitrogen fixation 1. National Resources Conservation Service / United States Department of Agriculture. “Careers in Soil Science.” http://soils.usda.gov/ education/facts/careers.html (http://openstax.org/l/NRCS) 960 Chapter 31 | Soil and Plant Nutrition This OpenStax book is available for free at http://cnx.org/content/col24361/1.8 Plants obtain food in two different ways. Autotrophic plants can make their own food from inorganic raw materials, such as carbon dioxide and water, through photosynthesis in the presence of sunlight. Green plants are included in this group. Some plants, however, are heterotrophic: they are totally parasitic and lacking in chlorophyll. These plants, referred to as holo-parasitic plants, are unable to synthesize organic carbon and draw all of their nutrients from the host plant. Plants may also enlist the help of microbial partners in nutrient acquisition. Particular species of bacteria and fungi have evolved along with certain plants to create a mutualistic symbiotic relationship with roots. This improves the nutrition of both the plant and the microbe. The formation of nodules in legume plants and mycorrhization can be considered among the nutritional adaptations of plants. However, these are not the only type of adaptations that we may find; many plants have other adaptations that allow them to thrive under specific conditions. This video (http://openstaxcollege.org/l/basic_photosyn) reviews basic concepts about photosynthesis. In the left panel, click each tab to select a topic for review. Nitrogen Fixation: Root and Bacteria Interactions Nitrogen is an important macronutrient because it is part of nucleic acids and proteins.
eBook - PDF- Jaga, Praveen Kumar(Authors)
- 2021(Publication Date)
- Daya Publishing House(Publisher)
2: Plant Nutrition One hundred and nine elements have been identified and included in the periodic table so far. Most of this exit in the earth’s mantle, earth’s crust and soil. Before, moving further, let us understand some of the key term which is often used in this chapter. Nutrient: A nutrient element is one that is required to complete the life cycle of the organism and its relative deficiency produces specific deficiency symptoms. Nutrients content is considered deficient when it is so low that it severely limits growth and produces characteristic deficiency symptoms. Range of nutrient content in plants associated with optimum crop yields is called sufficient. When the concentration of a nutrient element rises too high to cause significant growth reductions, it is termed as toxic. Available nutrients : In the soil a nutrients elements is distributed in different discrete chemical forms, which often exist in a state of dynamic equilibrium and constitute the pool from which plants draw it. The nutrient available to the biological organism is termed as bio available nutrients. It is that portion of the nutrient in the soil that can be readily absorbed and assimilated by the plants. An available nutrient constitutes only a small portion of the total nutrient present in the soil. Beneficial elements : Beneficial elements are the mineral elements which stimulate plant growth but are not essential or which are essential only for certain plant species, or under specific conditions like silicon, sodium, aluminium, cobalt, selenium and vanadium. Fractional nutrient: This term introduced by Nicholas (1961) is defined as an element that plays a role in plant metabolism, whether or not that role is specific or indispensable. Trace element: Trace elements are an element found in low concentration, perhaps less than one ppm or still less in soil plant and water, etc.
eBook - PDF- Mohammad Pessarakli(Author)
- 2014(Publication Date)
- CRC Press(Publisher)
355 18 Some Interactions of Mineral Nutrients and Organic Substances in Plant Nutrition Thomas W. Crawford, Jr. 18.1 INTRODUCTION The mineral nutrition of plants is dependent upon complex inorganic and organic sources of essen-tial plant nutrients. Carbon is assimilated from the air by photosynthetic plants, and parasitic plants absorb some or all of their nutrients from other plant or animal material. Essential plant nutrients other than carbon are absorbed directly through cells in contact with the environment (e.g., roots, leaves, and surface of cells of other organs) or from other plants, in the case of parasitic plants such as Cassytha spp. or Striga spp. The acquisition of mineral nutrients can be directly facilitated by other organisms, such as mycorrhizae, which can increase the surface area of the root system of a plant, and indirect action by organisms such as fungi and bacteria can mineralize elements, making them available for absorption by plants. The purpose of this chapter is not encyclopedic, but rather to orient the reader regarding various aspects of interaction of mineral nutrients with organic sub-stances in Plant Nutrition; further, in-depth information is available via the references. 18.2 PROPERTIES OF THE ESSENTIAL PLANT NUTRIENTS There are 17 essential plant nutrients, and an element is essential if it fulfills either one or both of two criteria: (1) it is part of a molecule that is an intrinsic component of the structure or metabolism of a plant, or (2) plants deprived of this element exhibit abnormalities in growth, development, or reproduction (Epstein and Bloom, 2005). For the purpose of better understand-ing of interactions of organic (carbon-containing) substances with mineral nutrients (elements other than carbon), it is useful to categorize the 17 essential plant nutrients as 9 metals and 8 nonmetals.
eBook - PDFTowards Holistic Agriculture
A Scientific Approach
- R.W. Widdowson(Author)
- 2013(Publication Date)
- Pergamon(Publisher)
A nutrient which has an important place in between the macro- and micro-nutrients is calcium. As we have already seen, it has a vital role in the formation of a good soil structure, but it is equally important as a plant nutrient. 3.2 Macro-nutrients Nitrogen (taken up as nitrate) Nitrogen is required by the plant to form the vegetable proteins. If applied to excess it will also increase the bulk and yield of the crop by the production of more leaves, although these leaves are less efficient as photosynthetic agents than those where excessive quantities of nitrogen have not been applied. The rapid growth which nitrogen gives the plant is often very soft and therefore more susceptible to plant and pest disease, the thinner cell walls being more easily penetrated by fungus or aphis, the carriers of virus infection. Again, excess of nitrogen will markedly delay ripening in cereal crops, and this can lead to severe problems at harvest time when autumn storms and heavy rain cause seed shed before the crop is ripe; additionally, the luxuriant growth is too much for a poorly developed root system, and will cause lodging. Deficiency symptoms Acute deficiency, rarely seen these days, causes weak spindly growth with pale yellowish-green leaves. It is usually seen where cereals have been monocul-tures, the organic content of the soil has reduced and a wet spell has leached out of the soil the soluble nitrates or ammonium salts. Phosphorus Phosphorus is required by the plant to enable it to establish a good root system at an early stage, and this is followed by good tillering in the cereals. Obviously its beneficial effect on root development makes it important in those crops such as mangolds, carrots, etc. where the final harvested part of the plant is its root. It is also important for legume crops but this is, in all probability, due to the need of the rhizobia (the symbiotic nitrogen-fixing bacteria) for this nutrient.
eBook - PDF- Horst Marschner(Author)
- 1995(Publication Date)
- Academic Press(Publisher)
This holds true in particular for sodium and silicon, which are abundant in Introduction, Definition, and Classification of Mineral Nutrients 5 the biosphere. The essentiality of these two mineral elements has been established for some higher plant species (Chapter 10). Most micronutrients are predominantly constituents of enzyme molecules and are thus essential only in small amounts. In contrast, the macronutrients either are constituents of organic compounds, such as proteins and nucleic acids, or act as osmotica. These differences in function are reflected in the average concentrations of mineral nutrients in plant shoots that are sufficient for adequate growth (Table 1.3). The values can vary considerably depending on plant species, plant age, and concentration of other mineral elements. This aspect is discussed in Chapters 8 to 10. Table 1.3 Average Concentrations of Mineral Nutrients in Plant Shoot Dry Matter that are Sufficient for Adequate Growth 0 μπιοΐ g ! mg kg l Relative number Element Molybdenum Nickel 6 Copper Zinc Manganese Iron Boron Chlorine Sulfur Phosphorus Magnesium Calcium Potassium Nitrogen Abbreviation Mo Ni Cu Zn Mn Fe B Cl s P Mg Ca K N dry wt 0.001 -0.001 0.10 0.30 1.0 2.0 2.0 3.0 30 60 80 125 250 1000 (ppm) 0.1 -0.1 6 20 50 100 20 100 — — — — — — % — — — — — — — 0.1 0.2 0.2 0.5 1.0 1.5 of atoms 1 1 100 300 1000 2000 2000 3000 30000 60000 80000 125 000 250000 1000000 From Epstein (1965). 6 Based on Brown et al. (1987b). 2 Ion Uptake Mechanisms of Individual Cells and Roots: Short-Distance Transport 2.1 General As a rule there is a great discrepancy between the mineral nutrient concentration in the soil or nutrient solution, on the one hand, and the mineral nutrient requirement of plants, on the other. Furthermore, soil and also in some cases nutrient solutions may contain high concentrations of mineral elements not needed for plant growth. The mechanisms by which plants take up nutrients must therefore be selective.
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