Plant nutrients & their importance for high value farming (Part - 2)

In the previous part I explained how the term “Essential element” changed to “Plant nutrients” with the time and how we explored the importance and existence of plant nutrients.

Now, I will explain the roles and importance of plant nutrients for high yield and healthy farming practices. There are total 17 nutrients which are required for plants to run their metabolism in which 3 nutrients plants take from air and rest 14 nutrients plant take from the soil and other fertilizer solutions. The roles of these nutrients are described below –

Macro-nutrients –

Nitrogen –

Plants take the Nitrogen from various fertilizers and air (Legumes get their N from atmosphere, water or rainfall). Nitrogen has very remarkable role in the plant growth. It is the part of chlorophyll which is the green pigment responsible for photosynthesis process in the plants. It is the necessary part of all proteins, enzymes and metabolic processes involved in the synthesis and transfer of energy.

Phosphorus –

Phosphorus is also essential part of photosynthesis process. It is involved in sugar, starch and oil formation. Phosphorus as plant nutrient affects rapid growth of plants and helps in the transformation of solar energy in to chemical energy. It plays important role in plant maturation and withstanding stress. Phosphorus also induces blooming and root growth.

Potassium –

The presence of potassium is vital for plant growth because K is enzyme activator that promotes metabolism processes. K has been shown to improve disease resistance in the plants, improve the size of seeds and improve the quality of fruits and vegetables. K helps in regulating plant’s use of water by controlling the opening and closing of leaf stomates, where water is released to cool the plants.

Calcium –

Ca has major role in the formation of the cell wall membrane and its plasticity. Ca is activator of several enzyme systems in protein synthesis and carbohydrate transfer. Calcium is essential for see production in peanuts. Ca directly assists in improving crop yield by reducing soil acidity when soils are limed.

Magnesium –

Magnesium is major part of chlorophyll in all green plants which is essential for photosynthesis process.  It also helps activate several plant enzymes required for growth.

Sulfur –

Sulfur promotes activity and development of enzymes and vitamins, helps in chlorophyll formation, root growth, seed production, resistance to cold and production of proteins.

Fertilizer Selection; Food & Fiber Needs Both Food And Fibe

We can simply define the agriculture, production of food and fiber but for the production we have to provide it first both food and fiber means nutrients, support & protection.

Agriculture is something what we are doing since centuries but with the time requirements have been changed. We entered in the chemical world to increase our productivity and quality, we have converted thousands of acres barren lands in to fertile lands but the process also showed so many side effects.

We are trying to create that chemical free agricultural atmosphere again by demanding residue free and organic cultivation, but we have come so far. Now a days organic cultivation has become a challenging task as it has many limitations but we can choose our daily use fertilizers wisely to reduce cost and hazard.

Today, I am going to explain all the methods and materials which are good in my experience to reduce cost of cultivation and to gain high yields.

Methods of Fertilizer applications –

There are several ways to apply fertilizer but the important thing is that application has to controlled, calculated, cost effective and requirement based because unnecessary, uncontrolled and uninformative application of fertilizers will result in crop damage and economic losses. One shall always go through the verified references and proper calculation on the basis of soil testing reports and manufacturer’s recommendations. Few methods of fertilizer application are as below-

·         Drenching –

For this method, water soluble fertilizers are required. This method is basically for the early stage and for the application of high phosphorus materials. After transplanting in the field fertilizer soluble in water is applied around the plant (Not over the plant). This is best to increase the root development of new plant and root establishment.

·         Foliar Applications –

Foliar fertilizers are dilute fertilizer solutions applied directly to the leaves. This method doesn’t fulfill the complete requirement of nutrient to plant.  Foliar application of micronutrients, especially iron may be beneficial when high pH conditions make the soil iron unavailable to the plant roots and result and iron chlorosis. This spray is done by manual or automatic sprayers with maximum coverage.

      Broadcast –

Broadcasting is uniform application of fertilizer to the entire field before planting. This is the safest and easiest way of fertilizer application but requires large quantity of fertilizer. The method can be accomplished manually or by mechanical spreader.

·         Band Placement –

The method is, placement of fertilizer 2-3 inches to each side an below the seed or the plant. The method is quite risky as placement too close to the seed or at too high rate can cause fertilizer burn and inhibit germination.

·         Side-dress application –

Side dressing refers to placing the fertilizer besides the row during growing season. The method is basically used to apply additional nitrogen during the growing season and is specifically useful for applying nitrogen to sandy soil.

·         Top-dress application –

Topdress application method is same as side dress application method except that fertilizer is applied around the plant. This method shall be accomplished be keeping precautions because too close application to the plant will create fertilizer burn.

Use of inorganic fertilizers is good to gain high yields but excessive use increases input cost (investment), loss of soil health, decrease in healthiness of produce. So, next time when you use the fertilizer organic or inorganic, don’t just look at the yields but also look at cost, suitable method for concerned fertilizer (as application also affects the investment and labor health), effect on produce and yield.

The various sources of plant nutrients can be classified in to two general groups-

1.       Inorganic

2.       Organic

Inorganic, materials are “High analysis” materials with fewer impurities whereas the organic materials are “Low analysis” materials that contain wide range of nutrients as well as organic compounds.

Many of the commonly used inorganic fertilizers are described below for the summary and other discussions kindly mail me-

 

Composition (%) of some common fertilizer materials
Source	N	P2O5	K2O	S	Other
Nitrogen
Ammonium Sulfate	21			24
Calcium nitrate	15				24(Ca)
Urea	45-46
Sulfur-coated urea	36-38			Variable
Phosphorus
Rock phosphate		25-40			25(Ca)
Single super phosphate		16-22		11-22	20(Ca)
Triple super phosphate		44-53		1-2	13(Ca)
Monoammonium phosphate	11	48-55		1-3	1(Ca)
Diammonium phosphate	18-21	46-54		0-2
Potassium
Potassium Chloride				60-62
Potassium sulfate				50-52	17
Potassium-magnesium sulfate
Calcium
Lime					38(Ca)
Dolomite					22(Ca)
					19 (Mg)
Calcium sulfate (gypsum)				19	23(Ca)
Magnesium
Magnesium sulfate (Epsom salt)				13	9.8 (Mg)
Magnesium oxide					55 (Mg)
Sulfur
Elemental (Sulfur)				100
Micronutrients
FeSo4.7H2O				12	19 (Fe)
FeEDTA					5-14 (Fe)
ZnSO4. H2O				18	35 (Zn)
ZnEDTA					14 (Zn)
CuSO4.5H2O					25 (Cu)
CuEDTA					13 (B)
Borax					11 (B)
Granusol					5.4 (Fe)
					5.2 (Zn)
					5.6 (Mn)
					5.4 (Mg)
					2.6 (Cu)
					0.5 (B)