Soil Fertility Concepts, Essential Nutrients, Fertilizers, and Integrated Nutrient Management
Introduction to Soil Fertility: History of soil fertility and plant nutrition. Criteria of essentiality of elements. Forms of nutrients in soil and mechanisms of nutrient transport to plant roots.
Essential Plant Nutrients: Macro nutrients (N, P, K) and Secondary nutrients (Ca, Mg, S) - their functions, deficiency symptoms, and toxicity in crops. Micro nutrients (Fe, Mn, Zn, Cu, B, Mo, Cl) indicators.
Soil Chemical Pools & Dynamics: Nitrogen transformations (mineralization, nitrification, denitrification). Phosphorus fixation and potassium fixation factors. Nutrient behavior in waterlogged and acidic soils.
Fertilizers and Amendments: Classification of synthetic chemical fertilizers (straight, complex, and mixed). Manufacture and properties of major urea, SSP, DAP, and MOP compounds. Soil amendments for saline-sodic tracts.
Soil Testing & INM: Principles of soil sampling, testing methods, and critical limits. Concept of Integrated Nutrient Management (INM), organic manures, biofertilizers, and formulation of targeted yield fertilizer equations.