Abstract
Ideal fertilizer management to optimize plant productivity and quality is more relevant than ever, as global food demands increase along with the rapidly growing world population. At the same time, sub-optimal or excessive use of fertilizers leads to severe environmental damage in areas of intensive crop production. The approaches of soil and plant mineral analysis are briefly compared and discussed here, and the new techniques using fast spectroscopy that offer cheap, rapid, and easy-to-use analysis of plant nutritional status are reviewed. The majority of these methods use vibrational spectroscopy, such as visual-near infrared and to a lesser extent ultraviolet and mid-infrared spectroscopy. Advantages of and problems with application of these techniques are thoroughly discussed. Spectroscopic techniques considered having major potential for plant mineral analysis, such as chlorophyll a fluorescence, X-ray fluorescence, and laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy are also described.
Highlights
Toward the end of the 20th century, after the Green Revolution, yield growth in agricultural crops slowed down (Gruhn et al, 2000)
Historically, soil chemical testing is widely used in crop production, much more than plant mineral analysis
Critical Threshold Concentrations The mineral concentration of one or more nutrients in a specific plant organ is usually compared to a table of critical threshold concentration (CTC) or, more commonly, sufficiency ranges to determine whether the crop is adequately supplied or fertilization is necessary
Summary
Reviewed by: Heiner Goldbach, University of Bonn, Germany Hans-Werner Olfs, University of Applied Sciences Osnabrueck, Germany. Ideal fertilizer management to optimize plant productivity and quality is more relevant than ever, as global food demands increase along with the rapidly growing world population. Sub-optimal or excessive use of fertilizers leads to severe environmental damage in areas of intensive crop production. The approaches of soil and plant mineral analysis are briefly compared and discussed here, and the new techniques using fast spectroscopy that offer cheap, rapid, and easy-to-use analysis of plant nutritional status are reviewed. The majority of these methods use vibrational spectroscopy, such as visual-near infrared and to a lesser extent ultraviolet and midinfrared spectroscopy.
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
