Synergy of nutrients

Synergy of nutrients
Plants need 12 essential chemical elements for their metabolism to grow. Soil is the major source of plant nutrients. The main nutrients are nitrogen  (N), phosphorus (P), and potassium (K). Other major elements are calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg), and sulphur (S). The micronutrients or trace elements are essential but only required in very small amounts. 

The German botanist Philipp Carl Sprengel (1787-1859) formulated the “Theory of Minimum” in agricultural chemistry. This means that the growth of plants is limited by the element that is relatively at scarcest supply. The scarcest resource is also termed minimum factor. 
 
Therefore, it is essential that all nutrients be supplied in appropriate amounts. The quantity depends on the crop specific requirements, provision of nutrients from the soil, crop residue management, weather and other factors. 

The NPK+S COMPLEX fertilizer portfolio compound granulate formulations from LAT Nitrogen offers a combination of nutrients within each granule for balanced nutrition. Their composition covers all the nutritional needs of main crops throughout their growth cycle. Further, we have developed NutriGuide® to determine the crop specific nutrient requirements of individual crops and crop rotations considering external factors such as soil fertility and the previous crop.

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Nitrogen and Sulphur

Nitrogen and sulphur have a lot in common. They complement each other as they are tied together due to several common physiological processes with a central role in the synthesis of proteins. In proteins for every 15 parts of nitrogen there is one part of sulphur which implies that the N:S ratio is commonly 15:1 for most crops but can be much higher for some crops (e.g. rape seed). 

Corresponding to the ‘Theory of Minimum’, too much nitrogen induces a sulphur deficiency and equally, a sulphur deficiency limits the uptake of nitrogen. Therefore, an adequate sulphur supply increases nitrogen use efficiency.


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Figure: the efficiency of nitrogen fertilization expressed as kg grain yield per kg of nitrogen fertilization is almost doubled when nitrogen is fertilized together with sulphur. AN= ammonium nitrate, NAC+S = calcium ammonium nitrate and sulphur (MYNITRAS).


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Figure: Yield response of winter oilseed rape to S application at increasing rate of N fertilizer. Ghatei et al. 2013: International J. of Agronomy and Plant Production 4 (12): 3255 – 3261

As nitrogen and sulphur have common physiological processes, they show common deficiency symptoms. Yellowing of the plants is the main symptom, which starts from the leaf tip to the base down on lower (older) leaves when nitrogen is deficient, whereas sulphur deficiency is shown on the young leaves first. 

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Nitrogen deficient barley plants show yellowing on older leaves. With friendly permission of IPNI, M.K. Sharma and P. Kumar
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Sulphur deficient barley plants show yellowing on younger leaves. With friendly permission of IPNI, M.K. Sharma and P. Kumar
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