Essential Nutrients/elements and definition

A. Essential Nutrients/elements

    The elements needed by the plant without which the plant is not able to survive and complete its life cycle are called essential nutrient
    or
    An essential nutrient element is the one which is required for the normal life cycle of an organism and where functions cannot be substituted by any other chemical compound.
  • Plants absorb or utilize more than 90 nutrient elements from the soil and other sources during their growth and development and about 64 nutrients have been identified in plants by their tissue analysis.
  • But all are not essential for their growth and development. They require only 17 elements/nutrients. These 17 have been recognized as essential elements. They are;

1. Carbon (C)
10. Iron (Fe)
2. Hydrogen (H)
 11. Manganese (Mn)
3. Oxygen (O)
 12. Zinc(Zn)
4. Nitrogen (N)
 13. Copper (Cu)
5. Phosphorous (P)
 14. Boron(B)
6. Potassium (K)
 15. Molybdenum (Mo)
7. Calcium (Ca)
 16. Chlorine (Cl)
8. Magnesium (Mg),
 17. Nickel (Ni)
9. Sulphur (S)

Of these element C,H,O together constitute 95-96% (C-45%, O-45%,H-6%). Subsequently N, P and K constitute 2.7% in plants. The other elements constitute only 1.3-1.4%. But all have definite roles to play in the growth and development. Among these Nickel is the latest nutrient addition to the list in 1987.
Last modified: Wednesday, 23 November 2011, 4:36 AM