Republic of the Philippines

CENTRAL BICOL STATE UNIVERSITY OF AGRICULTURE

San Jose, Pili, Camarines Sur 4418
Website: www.cbsua.edu.ph
Email Address: [email protected]
Trunkline: (054) 871-5531-33 local 101
ISO CERTIFIED

LEARNING CONCEPTS

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SOIL NUTRIENT SUPPLY AND PLANT GROWTH

Growth is an integrative trait that responds to environmental factors and is crucial
for plant fitness. A major environmental factor influencing plant growth is nutrient
supply. Plant growth and development largely depend on the combination and
concentration of mineral nutrients available in the soil. Plants often face significant
challenges in obtaining an adequate supply of these nutrients to meet the demands of
basic cellular processes due to their relative immobility.

Nutrient concentration in plant tissues as it relates to plant performance/yield.

Below the critical range plants are considered deficient. The range where nutrient
concentration in the tissue increases, but performance/yield does not, is considered the
sufficient range. At some point beyond the sufficiency range, excessive nutrient
concentrations can limit plant performance/yield and this is considered the excessive or
toxic range.

a. Critical Range - The nutrient concentration in the plant below which a yield
response to added nutrient occur somewhere in the transition between nutrient
deficiency and sufficiency.
b. Sufficient - the nutrient concentration range in which added nutrient will not
increase yield but can increase nutrient concentration
c. Luxury Consumption - is often used to describe nutrient absorption by plants
that does not influence yield.

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 d. Excessive/toxic = When the concentration of essential or other elements is high
enough to reduce plant growth and yield. Excessive nutrient concentration can
cause imbalance in other essential nutrients which can also reduce yield.

LINEAR RESPONSE PLATEAU MODEL (LRP)

Plant Response to Soil Fertility as Described by the Percent Sufficiency and the Mobility
Concept
• Plants respond to the total amount of mobile nutrients present
• Plants respond to the concentration of immobile nutrients present

Response to Mobile Nutrients

Plateau
C rop Yie ld

Linear Response

Available Mobile Nutrient

• Yield is proportional to the total amount of mobile nutrient present in the soil.
Yield response to immobile nutrients is not related to the total amount of the
“available form” present in the soil, but instead is a function of the concentration
of available form at, or very near, the root surface.
• Response of crops to mobile nutrients should be linear because mobile nutrients
(like water) are not decreased in availability by reaction with the soil.
• The linear response to mobile nutrients continues with each added increment of
nutrient until yield potential for that growing environment has been reached, after
which it is zero (see the figure.

MITSCHERLICH’S EQUATION

 The Mitscherlich equation is an expression of the principle that has been

described as the Law of Diminishing Increments as applied to the effect of
fertilization on crop yields. It was first proposed by Mitscherlich in 1909.

 Mathematical expression of the law of diminishing returns where increases in

yield of a crop per unit of available nutrient decreases as the level of available
nutrient approaches sufficiency.

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  The only assumption in the basic Mitscherlich equation is that the relationship
between amount of fertilizer added and the crop yield is that described by the
Law of Diminishing Increments. This Law was expressed as a differential
equation by Mitscherlich. Some of the considerations involved in this
assumption are described by Fried and Broeshart . The differential equation
is:
dy/dx = c(A - y)
Yield increases (dy) per unit of available nutrient (dx) decrease as the current
yield (y) approaches a maximum yield (A) with c being a proportionality
constant.
This link will give you an example of using LRP and Mitscherlich’s Equation for
calibrating soil test
https://agris.fao.org/agris-search/search.do?recordID=US201300937042

LAW OF MINIMUM (LIEBIG)

Justus von Liebig (1803-1873)
 The German chemist Justus von Liebig (1803-1873) is considered
by many to be the father of agricultural chemistry and the fertilizer
industry.

Law of the Minimum - Liebig's Law

Justus von Liebig, generally credited as the "father of the fertilizer industry",
formulated the law of the minimum:

If one crop nutrient is missing or deficient, plant growth will be poor, even if the
other elements are abundant. Liebig likens the potential of a crop to a barrel with staves
of unequal length. The capacity of this barrel is limited by the length of the shortest
stave (in this case, nitrogen) and can only be increased by lengthening that stave.
When that stave is lengthened, another one becomes the limiting factor.

LIEBIG’S LAW OF MINIMUM

“By the deficiency or absence of one necessary
constituent all others being present, the soil is
rendered barren for all those crops to the life of which
that one constituent is indispensable.”
Or: “Plant growth is limited by that nutrient present
below the minimum requirement.”

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* Plant production can be no greater than that level allowed by the growth factor present
in the lowest amount relative to the optimum amount for that factor.

Read and watch the given link below for your additional information on liebig’s law of
minimum;
https://soils.wisc.edu/facstaff/barak/soilscience326/lawofmin.htm
https://nutrien-ekonomics.com/latest-fertilizer-research/liebigs-law-of-the-minimum/

MECHANISM ON NUTRIENT UPTAKE

 Mechanisms of Nutrient Transfer- Soil to Root

1. Mass Flow
• It is the process whereby nutrients are carried by mass movement of
water, as water is absorbed by the roots.
• The amount of nutrient absorbed by plants depends on the amount and
rate of water flow to the roots and the concentration of the nutrients in water.
• It is believe that mass flow is the major avenue by which plant absorbed
Ca, Mg, Zn, Cu, B and Iron.
• Water absorbed by the root creates a water deficit near the root, more
water moves to the root carrying nutrients with the water. Important for
nutrients in large quantities in the soil solution- N, K and Ca.
2. Diffusion
o It is the movement of ions from a zone of high concentration to a zone of low
concentration.
o Movement of nutrients due to an imbalance of concentration (diffusion
gradient).
Diffusion of ions follows Ficks law:
• As nutrient are absorbed by plants concentration in the root vicinity decreases
and creates a concentration gradient causing diffusion of solutes towards the
roots.
F = - D dc
dx
Where: F = diffusion rate or amount of nutrient diffused per unit cross section per
unit time
c = concentration
x = distance
dc = concentration gradient
dx

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 3. Contact exchange (Root Interception)
• It is the direct exchange of ions between the roots and soil colloids as
roots come in contact with the colloid.
• Roots could contact 3% of the soil or nutrients in the soil.

Carrier Theory Of Nutrient Uptake

- Explain why certain crops e.g. sugarcane, root crops, oil crops, etc.
absorb more K than other cations.
- Proposes that ions enter an outer space in the roots by diffusion
- The 1st stage of diffusion is called passive uptake
- The 2nd stage is called active uptake which requires energy

NUTRIENT UPTAKE
1. PASSIVE ION UPTAKE – the uptake or absorption of ions/nutrients which occur
in the outer space through diffusion or contact exchange and does not involve
energy use. The first stage of diffusion.
2. ACTIVE UPTAKE – the uptake or absorption of nutrients that involves use of
energy i.e. ATP derived from photophosphorylation for aerobic organisms and
glycolysis for anaerobic organisms. (the second step of diffusion)
- This involves ion carriers or ion-binding compounds which bring the nutrients to
the inner space passing semi-impermeable cell membranes.

ESTIMATED PROPORTION OF NUTRIENTS THAT MOVE BY MASS FLOW,

DIFFUSION AND ROOT INTERCEPTION

NUTRIENT Approximate % supplied by

MASS FLOW DIFFUSION ROOT

INTERCEPTION

Nitrogen 98.8 0 1.2

Sulfur 95.0 0 5.0

Molybdenum 95.2 0 4.8

Calcium 71.4 0 28.6

Copper 90 0 10

Boron 90 0 10

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 Manganese 67 0 33

Iron 53 36 11

Phosphorus 6.3 90.9 2.8

Potassium 20.0 77.7 2.3

Magnesium 38 50 12

Zinc 33 33 33

Sufficiency: SLAN (Sufficiency Levels of Available Nutrients)

 Range of nutrient (insufficient to sufficient)
 Amount extracted from the soil is inversely proportional to yield increases from
added nutrients.
 Calibrations exist for the changing levels of available nutrients with fertilizer
additions and yield response.
 Concept assumes little if any effect of the level of availability of one ion on that of
another.
 Recognizes that an addition of the most limiting element may cause more
efficient utilization of a less limiting element.
For further understanding of the mechanism on nutrient uptake, watch this video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qsTONzzuZYk