A New Approach to the Problem of Adequate Fertilization of a Crop

Abstract

At present there is available no method of soil analysis which provides the information required to estimate with enough precision the quantities of the various nutrients that must be added to a soil to ensure maximum profit to the farmer. Although the results of certain field experiments make possible the estimation of the optimum rate of fertilization required for the commercial production of a crop, it is necessary to wait until the experiment is harvested, and its results are interpreted to carry out this estimation. The information provided by experiments performed with indicator plants prior to the time of fertilization of the commercial crops is as unreliable as that provided by the chemical analysis of the soil. The author has found a mathematical equation that can be used with a high degree of precision to represent the relationship between the content of a nutrient by the plant tissue at a certain stage of its growth cycle and the relative yield of the plant of which the tissue is analyzed. By using this mathematical equation jointly with a relation between the available nutrient content of the soil and the yield of the crop grown in that soil, it is possible to estimate also, with a high degree of precision, the quantities of the different fertilizer elements that should be added to the commercial crop so that the farmer may obtain a maximum profit.