Agricultural labour that determines the timely sowing ,harvesting and other cultural practices and ensures good returns. Plus, lack of capital is also the factor. The modern merchandise farming is becoming capital intensive to a large extent. Social factors affect farming in a number of ways. Type of farming practiced ,it can be shifting cultivation, subsistence farming, extensive cereal cultivation or mixed farming and many more.
Lack of phosphorus leads to stunted growth and sometimes an abnormal green leaf color. The P requirement of plants varies considerably. Tree crops have relatively low P requirements with the critical values ranging from 0.12 to 0.15 percent. Legumes and some vegetable crops have relatively higher P requirements with critical values being 0.25 to 0.30 percent or slightly higher. Nitrogen plays a vital role in plant growth by helping in chlorophyll synthesis.
Soil pH governs the availability of many elements that are essential for, or toxic to, plant growth. It is a determination of the hydrogen (H+) activity (effective concentration) in solution and it also measures the intensity of acidity or alkalinity in a sample of soil. (K.Peverill, et all, 1999) Plants often differ in their response when grown on soils with extreme pH value. 2.3 Mineral nutrition in
2.3.5 Soil Nitrogen Soil nitrogen is a vital nutrient compound for plant growth. The primary source of soil nitrogen is gaseous N2 in atmosphere; however a few bacteria can use this directly. The other plants and organisms can use nitrogen unless it is chemically bound to oxygen, hydrogen or carbon. About 99% of combined nitrogen is present in the organic matter fraction of soil, and can be converted to plant available nitrogen due to various biochemical reactions, that naturally take place in soil. The amount of nitrogen utilized by crops is large; however, the available amount to crops is small.
-The overall productivity of a farm depends on the use of yield enhancing inputs like fertiliser, access to irrigation, technology, crop intensity and choice of crops (crop pattern) grown at the farm. -Smallholder were using high amounts of inputs (we can attribute this to degraded soil health) -Ramesh’s conclusions were flawed since they made conclusions in favour of smallholding yet the data they used to analyse productivity were not interoperable -even though their results clearly indicate the inverse relationship Between farm size and land productivity. Per capita output is low on smallholdings despite higher productivity due to lower per capita availability of
AM fungi are able to enhance plant water and nutrient uptake. They can increase the solubility and the hence the uptake of different macro- and micronutrients by the host plant. For example, P is among the most important nutrients, whose absorption is considerably increased by the host plant. The reason is the production of phosphatase enzymes by AM fungi. Phosphorus (P) is mostly present in the form of insoluble phosphates in the soil and so plants cannot utilise it.
Each of the three play a significant role in the growth, and longevity of the plants. Nitrogen helps in the synthesis of nucleic acids and proteins and its deficiency in the plants can cause yellow leaves and reduced growth. Phosphorus provides growing plants with energy for metabolic reactions, the absence of which results in reduced growth. Potassium also helps in some important plant processes and the deficiency of potassium can result in spots on the leaves, weekend roots and stems and subsequent yellowing. Hence, all the 3 nutrients provided by the soil are key nutrients for a plant and need to be replenished and replaced by us after every
Many farmers are turning to organic or ‘low-input” farming for economic survival. Organic farmers are less vulnerable than conventional farmers to natural and/or economic risks as their farming systems are more diversified. Future trends in commodity prices, new regulations and research will probably favour organic farmers. On a national scale organic farming could reduce commodity prices, reduce depletion of fossil fuels, improve wild and water life and ensure productivity of the land for future generations. Research into the cost of running organic and non-organic farming was conducted with the conclusion that the cost of running an organic farm were higher than those of a non-organic farm.
As example, increase level of heavy metal in soils may decreases soil productivity while low level heavy metal concentration might inhibit some important plant processes such as photosynthesis. In addition, the high level of heavy metal in the soil can become a potential threat to human health due to uptake of heavy metals by plants and then accumulation along the food chain. Heavy metal pollution also affects the microbial community in the soil as it will cause changes in the composition, size and their activity. Thus, heavy metals are considered as one of the major sources of soil
%Pasreceived is 5.8±0.008% and %Pdry 12.7±0.008 and %P2O5asreceived 6.63±0.008 and %P2O5dry 14.48±0.008. This shows that there are also other components present in the fertilizer sample that is Introduction The agricultural value of fertilizer samples depend on their total phosphate and water content. Natural phosphates are found in small amounts in all better types of soil and their presence is very important for plant growth. Phosphate content was determined as a precipitate magnesium ammonium phosphate hexahydrate. [1] Moisture determination is an important indicator of the fertilizer 's quality.