The world-wide shortage of plant production menacing the survival of many people demands for more and better research, particularly on how to increase food and where it is most needed. Major problems of international concern for the scientific community are the availability in soil media of macro and micro nutrients and the efficiency of nutrient uptake by plant roots, the interactions between nutrients and other factors, the distribution of nutrients in different plant species, biochemical functions of nutrient elements, and their contribution to plant growth, yield and product quality. Feasibility and profit are also permanent concerns about plant nutrition in crop management, to which new require ments are now imposed by the need to decrease pollution hazards, a problem of prime importance to preserve the environment of the future. is A deeper insight into basic knowledge further required as well as into practical problems in the domains of agriculture, horticulture, and forestry. Such has been the concern of the International Association for the Optimization of Plant Nutrition (IAOPN) since 1964, promoting International Colloquia every four years as an opportunity for scientists concerned with plant nutrition to report new findings and to exchange ideas, experiences, and techniques. The Eighth International Colloquium for the Optimization of Plant Nutrition was hosted by Portugal and held in Lisbon from 31 August to 8 September 1992, with 280 delegates from 34 countries.

This collection reviews current research on understanding nutrient cycles, the ways crops process nutrients, the environmental effects of fertilizer use and how this understanding can be used to improve nutrient use efficiency for a more resource-efficient and climate-smart agriculture. Parts 1-3 summarise research on the primary macronutrients: nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. Chapter review what we know about nutrient cycles, crop nutrient processing, potential environmental effects and ways of optimising nutrient use efficiency (NUE). The fourth section of the book discusses secondary macronutrients and micronutrients including: calcium, magnesium, sulphur, zinc, boron, manganese and molybdenum. The final two parts of the book review research on optimising fertiliser use. Chapters cover topics such as assessing nutrient availability, decision support systems for optimising crop nutrition, advances in site-specific nutrient management and advances in integrated plant nutrient management. Other chapters discuss enhanced efficiency fertilisers, the use of bio-effectors/bio-stimulants, fertigation techniques and the use of organic amendments. With its distinguished editor and international team of expert authors, this will be a standard reference on optimising crop nutrition for the crop science and farming community.

The burgeoning demand on the world food supply, coupled with concern over the use of chemical fertilizers, has led to an accelerated interest in the practice of precision agriculture. This practice involves the careful control and monitoring of plant nutrition to maximize the rate of growth and yield of crops, as well as their nutritional value.

Exactly 35 years after the first Colloquium was held, the Eleventh International Plant Nutrition Colloquium took place from 30 July to 4 August 1989 in Wageningen, The Netherlands. Although impressive progress has been made during the past decades in our understanding of the mechanisms of uptake, distribution and assimilation of nutrients in relation to crop yield and quality, there are still significant gaps in our insight into many fundamental aspects of plant mineral nutrition and related metabolic processes. In spite of improved knowledge of nutrient requirements of crops and improved fertilizer application strategies, the world population remains to be burdened with an enormous shortage of plant products for food, timber, fuel, shelter, and other purposes. The main challenge facing the plant nutrition research community is to at least alleviate the increasing world-wide need for applying scientific knowledge to practical problems in agriculture, horticulture, and forestry. It is therefore felt by many scientists that the Plant Nutrition Colloquia, which are intended to bring together scientists and to integrate knowledge and approaches acquired in plant physiology, biochemis try, soil science, agronomy and related disciplines, have indeed made a significant contribution to the advancement of our knowledge and understanding in this vital and interdisciplinary field of agrobiology. About 260 scientists from 40 nations attended the Colloquium in Wageningen.

This is the 5th edition of a well-established book Principles of Plant Nutrition which was first published in 1978. The same format is maintained as in previous editions with the primary aim of the authors to consider major processes in soils and plants that are of relevance to plant nutrition.This new edition gives an up-to-date account of the scientific advances of the subject by making reference to about 2000 publications. An outstanding feature of the book, which distinguishes it from others, is its wide approach encompassing not only basic nutrition and physiology, but also practical aspects of plant nutrition involving fertilizer usage and crop production of direct importance to human nutrition. Recognizing the international readership of the book, the authors, as in previous editions, have attempted to write in a clear concise style of English for the benefit of the many readers for whom English is not their mother tongue. The book will be of use to undergraduates and postgraduates in Agriculture, Horticulture, Forestry and Ecology as well as those researching in Plant Nutrition.

Handboek samengesteld door "the Fertilizer Association of India (FAI)"

Greenhouse cultivation is noted for its high uptake of minerals, consistent climatic conditions, exclusion of natural precipitation and control of salt accumulation. Acknowledging that plant nutrition in greenhouse cultivation differs in many essentials from field production, this volume details specific information about testing methods for soils and substrates in a greenhouse environment. It does so while offering a universally applicable analysis. This is based on the composition of the soil and substrate solutions, methods for the interpretation of tissue tests, and crop responses on salinity and water supply in relation to fertilizer application. Fertilizer additions, related to analytical data of soil and substrate samples, are presented for a wide range of vegetable and ornamental crops. The subject is especially apt now as substrate growing offers excellent possibilities for the optimal use of water and nutrients, as well as the potential for sustainable production methods for greenhouse crops.

This text presents the principles of mineral nutrition in the light of current advances. For this second edition more emphasis has been placed on root water relations and functions of micronutrients as well as external and internal factors on root growth and the root-soil interface.