Mineral fertilizers are the basic crop management tool
Plants transform mineral compounds taken from soil, air and water in organic compounds which subsequently form all parts of plant body. Plant growth and harvest are dependent on the nutrition elements that are present in soil. After harvesting mineral elements do not go back into soil, so the amount of mineral elements in soil naturally decreases, the soil becomes less fertile (loses its ability to supply plants with nutrition elements) and produces a poor harvest.
The correct application of fertilizers helps to generate the best harvest, improve the quality of harvest, and change the metabolic process orientation, formation and accumulation of desirable compounds – proteins, fats, starches, sugars, vitamins, enzymes and etc. - in plants. For example, different cultivation conditions cause variation of protein content from 9 to 25%, variation of starch content in potatoes from 10 to 24%, variation of sugar content in white beetroot from 12 to 22%, variation of the volume of fat in oilseeds, the volume of sugars and vitamins in fruits and vegetables from 50 to 100%. Sufficient nutrition allows highly productive agricultural crops to realize their potential, quickly pass the vulnerable growth and development stages, become more resistant to illnesses, pests and unfavorable weather conditions ( for example, plants can survive better in conditions og drought due to better developed root system).
Plants consume 16 elements from soil:
- 3 macroelements – nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and potassium (K). Plants consume macroelements in amounts from 30 kg to 300 kg/ ha of major nutrient.
- 3 secondary elements – sulphur (S), magnesium (Mg) and calcium (Ca). Plants consume secondary elements in amounts from 1 kg to 30 kg/ ha of major nutrient.
- 10 microelements – zinc (Zn), cuprum (Cu), iron (Fe), manganese (Mn), molybdenum (Mo), chlorine (Cl), boron (B), sodium (Na), silicon (Si), cobalt (Co). Plants consume microelements in amounts from 0,01 mg to 1 kg/ ha of major nutrient.
Liebig's Law of the Minimum states that the volume of harvest is determined by the content of the element in soil, the demand for which is satisfied less. As the volume of this element increases, the volume of harvest will also grow in proportion to the doses applied until the content of some other element becomes the lowest.