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Nutrient management is the science and practice directed to link soil, crop, weather, and hydrologic factors with cultural, irrigation, and soil and water conservation practices to achieve optimal nutrient use efficiency, crop yields, crop quality, and economic returns, while reducing off-site transport of nutrients that may impact the ...
Nutrients in the soil are taken up by the plant through its roots, and in particular its root hairs.To be taken up by a plant, a nutrient element must be located near the root surface; however, the supply of nutrients in contact with the root is rapidly depleted within a distance of ca. 2 mm. [14] There are three basic mechanisms whereby nutrient ions dissolved in the soil solution are brought ...
Soil management is the application of operations, practices, and treatments to protect soil and enhance its performance (such as soil fertility or soil mechanics). It includes soil conservation , soil amendment , and optimal soil health .
Soil management tools include maintaining soil nutrient and organic matter levels, reduced tillage and increased cover. [231] These practices help to control erosion and maintain productivity during periods when moisture is available. Continued land abuse during droughts, however, increases land degradation.
This leads to poor crop yields. In agriculture, depletion can be due to excessively intense cultivation and inadequate soil management. Depletion may occur through a variety of other effects, including overtillage (which damages soil structure), underuse of nutrient inputs which leads to mining of the soil nutrient bank, and salinization of soil.
Ecological recycling is common in organic farming, where nutrient management is fundamentally different compared to agri-business styles of soil management. Organic farms that employ ecosystem recycling to a greater extent support more species (increased levels of biodiversity) and have a different food web structure.
Only by increasing the amount of the limiting nutrient (the one most scarce in relation to "need") was the growth of a plant or crop improved. This principle can be summed up in the aphorism, "The availability of the most abundant nutrient in the soil is only as good as the availability of the least abundant nutrient in the soil."
An accurate nutrient budget is an important tool to provide an early indication of potential problems arising from (i) a nutrient surplus (inputs>outputs), leading to an accumulation of nutrients and increased risk of loss or (ii) a deficit (outputs>inputs), depleting nutrient reserves and increasing the risk of deficiencies and reduced crop yields.