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Soil Nutrient Depletion and Imbalances

 

Soil Nutrient Depletion and Imbalances

Soil nutrient depletion refers to the loss of essential nutrients from the soil, which can occur due to a variety of factors such as overuse of the land for farming, urbanization, and poor agricultural practices. Nutrient imbalances occur when the soil contains too much or too little of certain nutrients, which can negatively impact plant growth and crop yields. To address these issues, farmers can use soil tests to determine the nutrient levels in their land and apply fertilizers or other soil amendments as needed to restore balance. Additionally, crop rotation, cover cropping, and other sustainable farming practices can help to conserve and replenish soil nutrients over time.

Plants take up nutrients from the soil throughout the growing season but the pattern of nutrient uptake differs from that of dry matter production. Initial uptake of nutrients is more rapid than dry matter production but uptake of nutrients slows as the crop approaches maturity. By anthesis, most of the nutrients present in the crop at maturity have been taken up. The nutritional requirements of the developing grain are largely met by mobilisation from leaf and stem tissues and, to a lesser extent, by absorption of nutrients from the soil.

Soil texture, organic matter concentration and pH have important affects on the concentration of available soil nutrients. In most soils these properties change with depth and subsoils are generally much different to those of the topsoil. The organic matter concentration of subsoils is inherently low and consequently the total nutrient pool and the availability of nutrients from mineralisation are low There can be a steep decline in nutrient concentrations and availability down the soil profile, especially for less mobile nutrients such as phosphorus (P) and zinc (Zn).

Mobile nutrients such as nitrate (NO3 - ) can be leached into the subsoil, however it is still commonly observed that NO3 - concentrations are much lower in the subsoil than in the topsoil. Subsoils therefore have much lower concentrations of many nutrients than the surface layers. The concentration of some nutrients increases with depth. In alkaline soils, for example, the high pH in the subsoil is associated with high concentrations of boron (B) and in sodic soils, the sodium (Na+) concentration increases in the subsoil.

The total concentration of a nutrient is the amount of all forms of the nutrient in the soil, which includes the nutrients present in organic matter, that attached to clay particles, and minerals and the soil solution. Even in infertile soils, the total nutrient concentration can be high, but most of the nutrients are not immediately available to plants.

While the total nutrient concentration can provide an indication of gross soil fertility, it is usually a poor predictor of nutrient sufficiency for plants. Nutrients must be in a chemical form that allows them to enter the soil solution and to be absorbed by plant roots. This is the available nutrient pool. Nutrients in the total pool are made available to plants by the break down of organic matter and soil minerals and by chemical exchange between the soil minerals, organic matter and the soil solution.

Soil pH, the presence of chemical species such as calcium carbonate and iron oxides, the soil moisture content and the soil’s biological activity are important influences on the availability of nutrients and hence the nutrient status of the plant.

These soil properties affect a plant’s nutrient status by:
• influencing the inherent fertility of the soil, which determines the total amount of nutrients potentially available to plants
• determining the availability of these nutrients and their movement to the root surface
• influencing the ability of roots to explore the soil, to take up nutrients and to use nutrients efficiently
'Acharya Ramchandra Shukla' was born in 1884 in a village named Agona in Basti district, Uttar Pradesh, India. His father Pt. Chandrawali Shukla was a Sarayuparin Brahmin. He was a supervisor Kanungo and biased of Urdu. Shuklji had studied till the Intermediate. After this, he did the job. Then he left the job and became a teacher. He started writing in Hindi from his student life. Impressed by Shuklaji's ability, Nagari Pracharini Sabha, Kashi called him to work in the Hindi literature. Shuklaji was appointed Hindi teacher in Hindu University and later became the Head of Hindi Department. He died in 1941 AD. Following are the major compositions of Acharya Ramchandra Shukla- 'Charan Vinod', 'Radhakrishna Das', 'Chintamani Triveni', 'Surdas', 'Ras Mimamsa', 'History of Hindi literature' etc. He edited 'Bhramar Geetasar', 'Bharatendu Sahitya', 'Tulsi Granthavali' and 'Jayasi Granthavali'. The talent of Acharya Ramchandra Shukla Ji was multi-faceted. He was a great essayist, critic and thinker. He is considered the first basic critic of Hindi. His history of Hindi literature is considered to be superior in history. Acharya Ramchandra Shukla was the pride of Hindi. Full name of 'Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam' was 'Dr. Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam'. He was born on October 15, 1931 at Dhanushkothi in the temple town Rameshwaram in Tamil Nadu. He was born in a poor family, but he was an exceptionally brilliant child. Kalam passed the B.Sc. examination from Saint Joseph College, Thiruchirapalli. He joined Madras Institute of Technology (MIT). His further knowledge in the field got upgraded when he joined Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO) in 1958 and Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) in 1963. He is known as the Missile Man of India. The various Indian Missiles of world order like Prithvi, Trishul, Akash, Agni, etc. are mainly the result of his efforts and caliber. Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam became the 11th President of India. He served the country from 2002 to 2007. For his excellence and brilliance, he was awarded the prestigious Bharat Ratna in 1998; Padma Vibhushan in 1990; and Padma Bhushan in 1981. Dr Kalam expired on Monday 27 July 2015. He suddenly fell unconscious when he was delivering a lecture at the Indian Institute of Management at Shillong. On 30 July 2015, the former President was laid to rest at Rameswaram's Pei Karumbu Ground with full state honours. Over 350,000 people attended the last rites, including the Prime Minister, the governor of Tamil Nadu and the chief ministers of Karnataka, Kerala and Andhra Pradesh. Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam was mainly interested in work. He was a bachelor. He was not interested in going abroad. He wanted to serve his motherland first. He said that he thinks his first and foremost duty is to serve his motherland. He was fond of music and the Koran and the Gita. Ever since becoming the head of the Indian State, he had been having interaction with children all over the country. He was by no means a miracle man. His advice to the youngster of the nation was to "dream dream and convert these into thoughts and later into actions".
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