Nutritional Elements in Plants

Plants, being living organisms, require adequate, timely and balanced nutrition. This is achieved through the presence of elements that are essential to their growth and which can be divided into two groups: mineral and non-mineral. The latter are the carbon, hydrogen and oxygen from the air that with water are fundamental for photosynthesis.

 

Nutrients are essential because in their absence, plants cannot continue to develop.

 

Mineral nutrients originate in the soil and are divided into three groups: the major nutrients (nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium), secondary nutrients (calcium, magnesium and sulfur), and minor nutrients (boron, chlorine, copper, iron, manganese, molybdenum and zinc). This division reflects the amounts needed by plants, but not their relative importance.

 

The major nutritional elements are often the first to be noticeably deficient in the soil, due to the high levels of them that are used by plants. The secondary and minor elements are equally important but are depleted more slowly.

 

Optimal plant growth, development and production occur when the accumulated products of photosynthesis (i.e., carbohydrates, fats and proteins) are generated from water, soil nutrients, oxygen, air and solar energy.

 

Within an agricultural production system, there are a number of processes linked to the primary goal of achieving the full growth cycle of plants. It is important to consider the direct relationship between soil, plants and environmental factors. The initial seed germination begins with the genetic potential and the nutrient supply.

 

Once germinated, the root system begins to interact with the soil, both to anchor the plant and for nutrient uptake. Meanwhile, air from the atmosphere produces an exchange of gases using solar energy and photosynthesis. This produces chlorophyll and CO2 that, along with water and soil nutrients taken (via the xylem), forms sugars and releases oxygen. The sugars in the plant move through the phloem, generating energy, fats, starches and proteins that are stored or used to carry out the metabolic processes of growth, development and production of abundant crops of good quality.

 

The plants begin to grow and develop, absorbing water and soil nutritional elements. These elements come from the minerals (e.g., sand) from the creation of the soil and the clays that store and exchange them (i.e., cation exchange capacity). When the demand for water and nutrients is greater than the soil can supply, it is necessary to implement irrigation and comprehensive nutrition plans that provide timely and balanced nutritional elements that plants require throughout their life cycle. This is complemented with appropriate agronomic practices of soil preparation and plant management (e.g., protection from pests and diseases).

 

Abonos Colombianos (Abocol) is a company dedicated to the manufacture of raw materials for agriculture and industrial markets in Central America, the Caribbean and the Andean Region. Abocol offers services that include comprehensive nutrition plans (Planes Integrales de Nutrición or PIN).

 

Abocol's Comprehensive Nutrition Plans consider soil as a valuable resource that should be recovered, preserved and improved depending on the degree of agricultural use. The Plans take into account the plant material in order to produce the same yield potential and environmental conditions prevailing in the area. Abocol performs periodic analysis of the soil's physical and chemical nature to get an idea of the state of the soil and its natural fertility.

 

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