The nutrient elements which are required comparatively in small quantities are called as micro or minor nutrients or trace elements. Micronutrients are essentially as important as macronutrients to have better growth, yield and quality in plants. Proper plant nutrition is essential for successful production of vegetable crops. Integrated supply of micronutrients with macronutrients in adequate amount and suitable proportions is one of the most important factors that control the plant growth in vegetable crops. Micronutrients which are essential for all higher plants are boron (B), chlorine (Cl), copper (Cu), iron (Fe), zinc (Zn), manganese (Mn), molybdenum (Mo) and nickel (Ni). Micronutrients like Cl, Cu, Fe and Mn are involved in various photosynthetic processes and Zn, Cu, Fe and Mn are associated with various enzymatic activities, Mo is specific for nitrate reductase only. Boron is associated with the carbohydrate metabolism and reproductive phase of the plants along with photosynthesis or enzymatic activities. Judicious use of micronutrients is essential for vegetable cultivation to get maximum yield of high quality produce. Plants differ in their need for micronutrients. In this review, we focus on the major functions of mineral micronutrients in vegetable production.
The present study was conducted at Institute of Agriculture (Palli Siksha Bhavana), Visva-Bharati West Bengal, India during 2019–20 to evaluate the extractability of different extractants for extraction of cationic micronutrients in lateritic soils of West Bengal under rice based cropping system. Fifty surface (0‒15 cm) samples were collected from rice-based cropping systems from five different blocks of Birbhum district. The pH of the soil was found extremely acidic to slightly acidic. The organic carbon content (%) were low to medium range. Among major nutrients available phosphorus and sulphur showed deficiency under study area. The micronutrients cations were extracted from the soils using five different extractants, namely, Mehlich 3, HCl, AB-DTPA and the conventional extractant DTPA. The greatest mean concentration for all the micronutrients was obtained by Melich 3 extractant followed by HCl whereas the lower values were obtained when DTPA extractant used. Themagnitude of extraction for all cationic micronutrients was Mehlich 3>HCl>AB-DTPA>DTPA. Melich 3 has a higher extractability due to its high pH and ability to displace exchangeable cations due to the presence of the NH4+ ion in the extractant. The low extractability of the DTPA extractant may be due to disruption of metal-chelate equilibria in acidic soils. A higher positive significant correlation observed among the extractants from the study indicated that, they were able to extract the micronutrients from remarkably similar pools.
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