Plant nutrition
The Phytotrophologie from Greek phyton plant, Trophologie nutrition, so plant nutrition or shortly Plant Nutrition , deals with the nutrition of crops as a branch of Agricultural Chemistry . The interdisciplinary research area develops from questions of soil science , botanical basics and applied topics to increase yield and quality in agriculture , horticulture , forestry and nutritional science.
Aspects and classification
- Plant physiological issues - plant nutrition as a supply of substances for growth;
- ecological issues - nutrition of the plant in relation to location and environment;
- agronomic questions - amount of yield, quality as a target of plant growth;
While plant physiology as a botanical sub-area is devoted to nutritional issues independent of the substrate, the influence of the substrate on growth is being researched in plant nutrition . Ecology is (also) concerned with the plants at the site - plant nutrition with the yield of cultivated plants at the site; Soil science considers the soil and its properties - plant nutrition considers the soil as the location of the plants.
Agriculture and crop production benefit from the researched connections, the chemical aspects of fertilization . Historically, it has long been disputed whether plants feed on humus ( humus theory ) or whether mineral nutrients are decisive for plant nutrition. With the discovery of the main nutrients and other essential trace nutrients , this question could be scientifically clarified through vegetation experiments.
Recent research by Torsten Müller , Günter Neumann and colleagues investigate the influences of bioeffectors (plant substrates and soil organisms) on the nutrient supply of plants in different locations .
historical development
- Humus theory by Aristotle (approx. 350 BC) - humus as a nutrient
- Bernard Palissy (1563) - Influence of salt and ash
- Johan Baptista van Helmont (1620) - Vegetation experiment with water as a nutrient
- John Woodward (1699) - "Dirty" irrigation water is better than clean water
- Carl Wilhelm Scheele (1770) - Plants produce CO 2
- Joseph Priestley (1775) - plants excrete O 2 from
- Jan Ingenhousz (1779) - Influence of light on gas metabolism
- Nicolas Théodore de Saussure (1804) - quantitative elucidation of photosynthesis
- Jean Baptiste Boussingault (1836–1839) - exact nutrient experiments
- Carl Philipp Sprengel (1825–1835) - Basics of the mineral theory
- Justus von Liebig (1840) - breakthrough in agricultural chemistry
- Margarete von Wrangell (1923) - first professor of plant nutrition in Germany
Plant growth and yield
The production of biomass for food and vegetable raw materials occurs through growth on the basis of photosynthesis and other growth factors - physical, chemical or biotic in nature. Yield factors are climate and soil factors, availability of water, of nutrients, presence of toxic substances, pH value of the substrate , organic substances.
The quantitative relationships are determined in vegetation tests and using analytical methods. The results are presented in the form of statistical statements or as an income law . An example of this is Liebig's law of the minimum , shown in the picture of the minimum bin or the law of optimum and other results on growth factors .
The yield possibilities in connection with fertilization, irrigation, resistance of the plants due to nutritional factors , yield quality , food quality - for example, protein content in wheat or nitrate content in leafy vegetables are also examined and optimized .
See also
- Association Biostimulants in Agriculture
- Bioeffector
- Soil fertility
- fertilization
- International Fertilizer Society
- Nutrient (plant)
- Nitrogen cycle
- Journal of Plant Nutrition and Soil Science
literature
- Arnold Finck : Plant nutrition in brief . 3rd revised edition. Hirt, Kiel 1976, ISBN 3-554-80197-6 , ( Hirt's key word books ).
- Wilfried Zorn, G. Marks, H. Heß, W. Bergmann: Handbook for the visual diagnosis of nutritional disorders in cultivated plants . Elsevier, Munich et al. 2007, ISBN 3-8274-1669-8 .
Web links
- Visuplant - diagnosis of nutritional disorders in crops