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In agriculture, leaching is the loss of water-soluble plant nutrients from the soil, due to rain and irrigation. Soil structure , crop planting, type and application rates of fertilizers , and other factors are taken into account to avoid excessive nutrient loss.
In pedology, leaching is the removal of soluble materials from one zone in soil to another via water movement in the profile. [1] It is a mechanism of soil formation distinct from the soil forming process of eluviation , which is the loss of mineral and organic colloids .
Leaching is the loss or extraction of certain materials from a carrier into a liquid (usually, but not always a solvent), and may refer to: Leaching (agriculture) , the loss of water-soluble plant nutrients from the soil; or applying a small amount of excess irrigation to avoid soil salinity
Agricultural soil science is the application of soil chemistry, physics, and biology dealing with the production of crops. In terms of soil chemistry , it places particular emphasis on plant nutrients of importance to farming and horticulture , especially with regard to soil fertility and fertilizer components.
Soil is used in agriculture, where it serves as the anchor and primary nutrient base for plants. The types of soil and available moisture determine the species of plants that can be cultivated. Agricultural soil science was the primeval domain of soil knowledge, long time before the advent of pedology in the 19th century.
Over time, the nutrients fixed by soil microbes and humus are released and available to crops. Nutrients from residue are not fully recovered by crops. Just like fertilizer nutrients, nutrients released from crop residue into the soil are susceptible to losses such as leaching (N and S), denitrification (N), immobilization (N, P, K and S), and ...
Measured on the pH scale, soil acidity is an invisible condition that directly affects soil fertility and toxicity by determining which elements in the soil are available for absorption by plants. Increases in soil acidity are caused by removal of agricultural product from the paddock, leaching of nitrogen as nitrate below the root zone ...
An example of ecological recycling occurs in the enzymatic digestion of cellulose. "Cellulose, one of the most abundant organic compounds on Earth, is the major polysaccharide in plants where it is part of the cell walls. Cellulose-degrading enzymes participate in the natural, ecological recycling of plant material."