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Plant Mineral Nutrition-1
Plant Mineral Nutrition-1
Soil application
Foliar application
Fertilizers Macronutrients
Micronutrients
Organic
Compound
fertilizers
fertilizers
(humus)
(mixed)
Application of fertilizers
• When soil is deficient to nutrient, we add a
particular nutrient.
• Analyze the soil and measure its nutrient
contents
• If there is deficiency of a particular nutrient, add
a particular fertilizer
• Fertilizer application types
• i) Soil application
• ii) Foliar application
Soil application
• These fertilizers are applied in the soil
• These include inorganic or organic fertilizers
• Most of the time macro or micro-nutrients are
added in soil
• NPK fertilizers are macro nutrients
• Based on the type of fertilizers, we categorize
them as
• a) Straight fertilizers
• b) Compound fertilizers
a) Straight fertilizers
• Those fertilizers which contain only one type of
nutrients are known as straight fertilizers e.g. N,
K, or P
• Super phosphate (to ameliorate P deficiency)
• Ammonium nitrate (N)
• Muriate of K (K)
b) Compound fertilizers
Those fertilizers which have two or more than two
nutrients in a specific ratio e.g. if a fertilizer
contains NPK then the ration will be 10, 14, 10
(N, P2O5, K2O)
Micronutrients
• No need to add
• Some time deficiency due to agricultural
practices
• Plants require micronutrients in very low
amount (mostly use their concentration in
micrograms)
• High amount will be toxic for plant growth
• Some plants require high quantity of
micronutrients e.g. rice requires high
amount of Zn for better growth so we use
ZnSO4
Organic fertilizers
• These are natural i.e. when leaves become
dead, they also become source of nutrients
because they have macro and micronutrients
• Adequate amount of organic fertilizer has better
effect on plant growth as compared to inorganic
fertilizer
• Organic matter decomposes – mineralization
• Mineralization depends upon many factors e.g.
temperature, water, availability of oxygen,
presence of micro-organisms, their types and
number
Foliar application
• Immediate remedy to recover deficiency
• If plants has been damaged seriously, nutrients can be
applied through leaves
• Nutrients in solution form are applied as foliar spray on
leaves and absorbed by leaves
• Certain conditions are required for absorbance through
leaves like use of surfactants
• Surfactants – these are reagents which reduce the
surface tension for maximum absorption. Among these
common are tween 80 (organic), tween 20 etc.
• Surfactants cause the breakdown of cutin on the surface
of leaves. Both cutin and waxes are hydrophobic in
nature and when this cuticle layer breaks, hydrophobic
property reduces and absorptions occurs through
epidermal cells
•
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• Stomata do not absorb foliarly applied solutions
because morphology of guard cells is in such a
way that outward flow of water is easy but
inward is not
• Effect of surfactant is not permanent
• Epidermal cells have genes which are involved
in continuous synthesis of cutin and waxes
• Epidermal layer is even broken down just by
touching the leaf surface
• So synthesis of cutin or waxes is continuous
process
Exogenous application
Application through one of the following way
1) Rooting medium
2) Pre-sowing seed treatment
3) Foliar application
Also known as shot-gun approach and its
effect is effective only for one generation
while for next generation again
application is required
Root mycorrhizae
• Mycorrhizae – a Greek word for “fungus and roots”
• Roots make an association with mycorrhizal fungi to
modify absorption nutrients
• 83% of dicotyledonous and 79% monocotyledonous
plants and all gymnosperms forms mycorrhizal
association
• Plants from families Brassicaceae or Cruciferae
(cabbage family), Chenopodiaceae (spinach family),
Proteaceae (macademia nuts) and aquatic plants rarely
have mycorrhizae
• Also absent from roots in very dry, saline or flooded soils
or where soil fertility is extreme i.e. high or low
Mycorrhizal fungi
• Composed of fine tubular filaments called
as hyphae which join to form fungal body
called mycelium
• There are two major classes of
mycorrhizal fungi
• 1. Ectotrophic mycorrhizae
• 2. Endotrophic mycorrhizae (vesicular-
arbuscular mycorrhizae)
Ectotrophic mycorrhizae
• These form a thick sheath or mantle
around the roots of plants
• Some mycelium penetrates between the
cortical cells
• Cortical cells are not penetrated by the
hyphae but are surrounded by the network
of hyphae called “Hartig net”
• Increase the absorption capacity of roots
particularly phosphorus
• Usually found in trees, woody
angiosperms, gymnosperms
Vesicular-arbuscular mycorrhizae
• They do not form compact mantle around the roots and
form less dense arrangement
• Extend outward in the soil
• About 10% of weight of root
• Penetrate in individual cells of cortex forming two types
of structures
• a) oval structures (vesicles)
• b) branched structures (arbuscules)
• Hence, the term vesicular-arbuscular mycorrhizae is
used
• Found in herbaceous plants
• Facilitate absroption of P and trace elements like Zn, Cu
• Plants have these mycorrhizae absorb 4 times higher P
in their roots as compared to non-assoiciated plants
Ion traffic into roots
• Membrane carriers, channels and pumps are
used to facilitate the transport of ions
• Transport proteins have two major classes
• 1) carrier proteins
• 2) channel proteins
• Carrier proteins (carriers, transporters, porters)
bind to particular solute to be trasnported
• Binding makes conformational changes in carrier
protein, which delivers the solute to other side
• After release of solute, protein again reverts to
its original conformation and ready to pick up
another solute
Channel proteins
• Channel proteins form a charged-lined, water-
filled channel that extends across the membrane
• Diffusion through channel is dependent hydrated
size of ion because associated water molecule
must diffuse along with ion
• The number of ion channels discovered in plants
is increasing
• Currently there is solid evidence for K, Cl and Ca
channels
• Channel proteins are frequently gated i.e open
or closed
Electrogenic pumps
• Involved in active transport of ions
• Against the gradient
• Tightly coupled with metabolic energy
• An important characteristic of pumps is
that they are reversible
• ATPase-proton pump