Plant Nutrition

Abstract

Fertilizers in the broadest sense are products that improve the levels of available plant nutrients and/or the chemical and physical properties of soil, thereby directly or indirectly enhancing plant growth, yield, and quality. Fertilizers are classified in terms of their chemical compounds. Straight fertilizers generally contain only one primary nutrient. Compound fertilizers contain several primary nutrients and sometimes micronutrients as well. Micronutrient fertilizers contain nutrients required in small quantities by plants, as opposed to macronutrients. They are also classified as solid or liquid fertilizers and as soil or foliar fertilizers, the latter being applied exclusively by spraying on an existing plant population.