Sources of nutrients


 
 
Concept Explanation
 

Sources of Nutrients

Sources of Nutrients:

Plants obtain carbon from the carbon dioxide present in the air, hydrogen from water and oxygen from air and water. They get the remaining nutrients from the soil. Soil is, therefore, the most important source of various plant nutrients.

Plants, unlike animals, do not require organic materials for their nutrition from other bodies they obtain organic material in large quantity from their tissues. By using the solar energy in the process of photosynthesis,  they are able to synthesize nutrients from carbon dioxide (CO2) and water . However, plants do require inorganic salts, which they absorb from the soil surrounding their roots; these include the elements phosphorus (in the form of phosphate),chlorine (as the chloride ion),potassium,sulphur, calcium, magnesium, iron, manganese, boron, copper, and zinc. Plants also require nitrogen, in the form of nitrate (NO3) or ammonium (NH4+) ions. Moreover they  absorb other inorganic compounds such as iodides and cobalt and selenium salts which they do not require.

The soil gets nutrients as a result of rains there is a gradual breakdown of the rocky material on Earth’s surface. Primarily composed of alumina and silica, rocks also contain smaller amounts of all the mineral elements needed by plants. Another source of soil nutrients is the decomposition of dead plants and animals and their waste products. Earthworm and other millions of microorganisms are a part of the soil, which helps in break down organic materials, releasing simpler mineral salts. Furthermore, two groups of bacteria fix atmospheric nitrogen that is, they are able to add relatively inert element into nitrate ions.

1. Bacteria of the genus Azobacter live freely in soil,

2. Bacteria of the genus Rhizobium live sheltered in the roots of leguminous plants such as peas and beans.

3. Cyanobacteria (blue-green algae) also can fix nitrogen and are important for growing rice in the flooded paddy fields of Southeast Asia.

In areas of intensive farming, where crops are harvested at least once a year and no animals browse the fields, human intervention in the form of fertilizers is important. A traditional form of fertilizer has been animal manure, or muck, made from the straw bedding of cattle that has been soaked in excreta and allowed to ferment for a period. Since the 1800's farmers also have used artificial fertilizers, at first using naturally occurring mixtures of chemicals such as chalk (supplying calcium), rock phosphates, and the natural manure known as guano. Commercial guano consists of the accumulated deposits of bird droppings and is valued for its high concentration of nitrates. Modern chemical fertilizers include one or more of three important elements: nitrogen, potassium, and phosphorus. Most nitrogenous fertilizers are produced by a technique in which nitrogen and hydrogen are combined at very high pressures in the presence of catalysts to form ammonia (NH3). This can then be injected into the soil as a gas that is quickly absorbed or, more commonly, converted into solid products such as ammonium salts,urea, and nitrates, which can be used as ingredients in mixed fertilizers.

Sample Questions
(More Questions for each concept available in Login)
Question : 1

Plants get hydrogen from __________________.

Right Option : B
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Explanation
Question : 2

Plants get carbon dioxide from __________________.

Right Option : B
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Explanation
Question : 3

Which of the following are correct :

(a) Plants obtain carbon from the carbon dioxide present in the air.

(b) Plants obtain hydrogen from water and oxygen from air and water.

(c) Soil is the most important source of various plant nutrients.

Right Option : D
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Explanation
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