About Book

Soil fertility is the quality of a soil that enables it to provide compounds in adequate amounts and proper balance to promote growth of plants when other factors (such as light, moisture, temperature, and soil structure) are favourable. Where fertility of a soil is not good, natural or manufactured materials may be added to supply the needed plant nutrients; these are called fertilizers. Fertilizers are naturally occurring materials that are used on soil to provide them with essential nutrients to ensure the proper growth of plants and crops. They can also be of synthetic nature. The most commonly known fertilizers are potassium fertilizers, nitrogen fertilizers and phosphorus fertilizers. Fertilizers may be added to soil in solid, liquid, or gaseous forms, the choice depending on many factors. Generally, the farmer tries to obtain satisfactory yield at minimum cost in money and labour. The book outlines the benefits and applications of fertilizers in soil and plant growth in detail. It focuses on soil fertility, mineral fertilizer, nitrogen fertilization, tillage methods, electrode materials and p-fixing soils. This book elucidates the concepts and innovations and respective developments with respect to this field. The topics included in this book are of utmost significance and are bound to provide incredible insights to readers about fertilizers. It strives to provide a fair idea about this discipline and to help develop a better understanding of the latest advances within this field. This book is an essential guide for both academicians and those who wish to pursue this discipline further.

Preface............................................................................................................v

Chapter 1 The Excretion of Di- and Tricarboxylic Acids by Roots of Higher Plants Can Strongly Improve the Acquisition of Phosphate (P) by Plants in P-Fixing Soils.............................................................................1

Abstract...................................................................................................1

1. Introduction............................................................................................2

2. Conclusions..........................................................................................16

Chapter 2 Effects of Different Tillage Methods, Nitrogen Fertilizer and Stubble Mulching on Soil Carbon, Emission of CO2, N2O and

Future Strategies.......................................................................................24

1. Introduction..........................................................................................24

2. Background...........................................................................................25

3. Future strategies..................................................................................33

Chapter 3 Improvement of Soil Fertility with Use of Indigenous Resources in Lowland Rice Systems.......................................................................45

1. Introduction ........................................................................................45

2. Materials and methods .....................................................................47

3. Results...................................................................................................48

4. Conclusions and recommendations ...............................................54

Chapter 4 Effect of Crop Rotation and Nitrogen Fertilization on the Quality and Quantity of Soil Organic Matter..................................................59

1. Introduction..........................................................................................59

2. Composition of soil organic matter and methods of humus

substances fractionation.....................................................................61

3. Results...................................................................................................68

4. Discussion.............................................................................................73

5. Conclusions..........................................................................................76

Chapter 5 Electrode Materials a Key Factor to Improve Soil

Electroremediation ...................................................................................81

1. Introduction ........................................................................................81

2. Methodology .......................................................................................85

3. Results ..................................................................................................87

4. Conclusions........................................................................................104

Chapter 6 Impact of Mineral Fertilizer Integration with Farmyard Manure

on Crop Yield, Nutrient Use Efficiency, and Soil Fertility in

a Long-Term Trial .................................................................................108

1. Introduction ......................................................................................108

2. Material and methods .....................................................................110

3. Results ................................................................................................113

4. Discussion .........................................................................................121

5. Conclusion .........................................................................................125

Chapter 7 Thermodynamics of Seed and Plant Growth..................................129

1. Introduction ......................................................................................129

2. The thermodynamics of seed and the maintenance of seed

viability...............................................................................................131

3. Thermodynamics of germination and plant growth.................139

4. Conclusion..........................................................................................147

Chapter 8 Soil Quality and Productivity Improvement Under Rainfed

Conditions – Indian Perspectives.......................................................156

1. Introduction........................................................................................156

2. Constraints in improving the productivity in rainfed

agriculture...........................................................................................157

3. Sustainability of agriculture – General concepts and

scenario ..............................................................................................163

4. Soil quality indicators .....................................................................169

5. Assessment of soil quality- Recent approaches .........................176

6. Effects of management practices on soil quality, productivity and

sustainability – Recent reports ......................................................179

7. Effective steps for improving soil quality, productivity and

sustainability with emphasizes in rainfed areas .......................187

Citation......................................................................................................203

Index...........................................................................................................205

About Author

Jurex Klein is serving as a Visiting Professor at Public Research University, Cherkasy. He pursued his Ph.D. in Soil Science and Agronomy from State University, Kemerovo. His areas of interest are environmental soil science and its management. He has authored and edited numerous articles, journal papers and book chapters in the field of geology and plant growth, which have been published worldwide. His works have also been helpful to many fellow researchers in their respective fields. Klein has also been an invited speaker at various international agricultural conferences.