Efficiency of Zinc in Plants, its Deficiency and Sensitivity for Different Crops

Optimal crop nutrition is a significant factor in increasing agricultural vintage and quality of products. Zinc (Zn) is an immobile important micronutrient, which is taken up by plants in Zn2+ form to complete their life cycle efficiently. It plays a critical metabolic role in plants and is an important constituent of proteins and other large-molecules, and serves as structural and functional unit, or controlling cofactor for a wide range of enzymes. The Zn is needed in small and in appropriate amounts for plants main physiological processes to work normally. These processes play critical roles in photosynthetic activity of plants and forming carbohydrates, synthesis of protein, reproduction and seed development, growth, and disease protection. After Zn deficiency in plants, these physical functions are decreased, and plant health and productivity suffer greatly, subsequent in reduced production or even failure of crops and often bad quality of crop products. Plant Zn deficiencies occur on variety of soils and are severe due to a combination of symptoms like chlorosis, resetting, dieback and suppressed or irregular vegetative development. In addition, various crops require varying amount of Zn. So the knowledge regarding this is not up to date. The present review discusses the Zn importance in plants, its deficiency in soil and required level of Zn for crops.

Towards Achieving Food Security in Nigeria: A Fuzzy Comprehensive Assessment of Heavy Metals Contamination in Organic Fertilizers

In the quest towards achieving the Zero hunger agenda of the sustainable development goals by 2030, the utilization of organic fertilizers, for soil amendment purposes, has been posited as a feasible alternative for overcoming the negative impacts of inorganic fertilizers. Despite its manifold benefits, the use of untreated and improperly treated organic materials in agricultural production is however capable of introducing toxic metals in the soil-plant systems causing health and agro-environmental impacts. In this study, available organic fertilizers use by Nigerian farmers were selected and analyzed for nutrient values and most importantly, heavy metal contamination. The degree of contamination in each sample was modeled using fuzzy comprehensive assessment. The manure samples possessed optimum nutritional values; the nitrogen, phosphate, and potash contents ranged from 0.91 – 7.44, 0.06 – 1.61, 0.14 – 0.58% respectively. The fuzzy algorithm results categorized all the organic fertilizers as pristine, with a membership degree ranging from 35 to 99%. However, an excessive level of toxic contamination, with a membership function between 3 to 33% was observed. The major contaminants were identified as Zn, Cr, and Cd with an individual contribution of 16, 29, and 33% respectively. Adequate remediation techniques and good management practices that reduce the concentration of heavy metals in the organic fertilizers especially that of Zn, Cr, and Cd, should therefore be promoted among the producers and users of these soil improvers in Nigeria.

Coconut Growers Knowledge, Perception and Adoption on Impacts of Climate Change in Gampaha and Puttalam Districts in Sri Lanka: An Index-Based Approach

Climate change and food security are critical topics in sustainable agricultural development. Climate change is expected to have serious environmental, economic and social impacts on Sri Lanka. Coconut growers’ knowledge, perception level and adoption for climate change adaptation measures have influenced productivity of the coconut cultivation. The study investigated the coconut growers’ knowledge gap, knowledge and perception levels regarding impacts of climate change in Gampaha and Puttalam districts. Further, this study investigated their adoption of different adaptation measures. A stratified random sampling technique was applied for selecting 240 respondents from two different districts. Structured questionnaire and interview schedule were used to elicit information from the respondents and data was analyzed with both descriptive and inferential statistics. Adoption rate of the climate change adaptation measures is significantly influenced by coconut growers’ knowledge and perception level at varying degrees. The study revealed that most of the growers in two study areas have better knowledge (> 70%) and perceptions (>60%) regarding the gradual changes in the climate and its impact on their coconut cultivation. However, their adaptation behavior is fairly poor (< 50%) in both districts. Hence government policies should more focused on to coconut growers to have access to affordable credit to increase their ability and flexibility to change adaptation strategies in response to the changing climatic conditions. Increasing growers’ access to agricultural extension services and access to information on weather forecasting are very important. In addition, government should improve and promote off-farm income-earning opportunities during dry seasons.

Effect of Beneficial Soil Microbes on Growth and Yield of Celery in Volcanic Soil of West Java

Soil beneficial microbes have a critical role in plant growth. Inoculating biofertilizer is suppose essential for supporting the plant performance and hence plant yield. The objective of field experiment was to verify the growth and production of celery (Apium graveolens L.) after biofertilizers application. The experiment had been performed in a plastic house in the mountainous area of tropical volcanic soil of West Java, Indonesia. The field trial was carried out in a Completely Randomized Block Design to test two microbial-coated urea formulas and a mixed biofertilizer. The control treatment was Nitrogen-Phosphorous-Potassium (NPK) compound fertilizer. All treatments were replicated three times. The celery was growing in low Nitrogen but high Phosphor and Potassium soil during the dry season. The field trial verified that plant height and biomass as well as yield of celery didn’t depend on fertilizer treatments. Nonetheless, this trial founded that both microbial-coated urea and mixed biofertilizer can replace the NPK fertilizer to produce a same yield of celery.

Effect of Mid-Term Cropping System Adoption on Soil Chemical Properties at Changunarayan Municipality, Bhaktapur, Nepal

Soil chemical properties plays a crucial role in crop yield. In this study, we evaluated the chemical properties of soils under three different cropping systems practiced for more than five years in Changunarayan municipality of Bhaktapur district of Nepal. The cropping systems includes- (i) cultivation inside polyhouse (Treatment A: polyhouse), (ii) paddy-wheat rotation (Treatment B: P-W), and (iii) paddy-wheat-vegetable rotation (Treatment C: P-W-V). Thirty-nine composite samples (13 replicates from each site) were taken from the area based on variation in landforms. Soil pH, organic matter (%), total nitrogen (%), available phosphorus (mgkg-1), and available potassium (mgkg-1) were evaluated for each sample. The study revealed that the soil pH was acidic and ranges between 4.71 and 5.39, organic matter (1.6-2.39%), total nitrogen (0.091-0.13%), phosphorus (4.48-29.24mg kg-1) and potassium (88.04-109.52 mg kg-1). A significant lower mean pH (4.71), and higher mean organic matter (2.39%), total nitrogen (0.13%) and available phosphorus (29.24 mgkg-1) were observed in cultivation under polyhouse. Incorporation of vegetable in paddy-wheat system gave significant (p<0.05) higher accumulation of soil phosphorus and consistently raised other nutrient status. Moreover, cultivation under polyhouse raised C:N ratio (10.55) significantly than other system. This finding can be relevant to wide range of readers that focus on soil chemical properties and can be used in developing future research strategy and sustainable soil management system in the area.