Rare earth elements application in agriculture

Abstract

Rare earth elements (REEs) are a group of chemical elements that include lanthanides as well as scandium and yttrium. Today REEs are used in various industries, such as agriculture where they are used as micro fertilizers and feed additives, the latter being used in medicine as well. There is no indication that REEs might be essential for any form of life. At lower concentrations, they can favorably influence certain physiological processes of plants (enzyme activity, hormone content, photosynthesis, seed germination, plant growth, etc.). They may induce an increase in some antioxidant systems and thereby increase the tolerance of plants to environmental stressors caused by high concentrations of heavy metals, herbicides, lack of water and essential nutrients, UV radiation and oxidative stress. Thus, their favorable effect was documented regarding the yield of cultivated species as well as the effect of their chemical composition on the content of vitamin C, soluble sugars and essential elements, reduction of the concentration of toxic heavy metals, improvement of the quality of wheat kernel for different uses. REEs have been commonly used as feed additives in organic and inorganic forms in livestock production. The available literature on the use of REEs as feed additives in livestock suggests positive outcomes (affected various physiological processes, increase in milk, egg and meat production, promoted growth and reproductive performance), but further investigation and results are needed before extending their use to zootechnical purposes.