Agricultural Systems I

Plants, conditions for plant growth, biomass

production, plant composition
Main factors required for plant growth

 Water (solubilization and transport)

 Energy (source of heat, source of light,

synthesis of large molecules)

 Nutrients (supporter of specific

compounds development and catalyst)
Water
 Water - the most important factor in the evolution on the
Earth. Only presence of water can allow plants to survive.

 Water is called as an universal solvent due to hydrogen

bonds and its polarity
 Water has a high specific heat, a high heat of fusion and a
high heat of vaporization all caused due to hydrogen
bounds – chemical properties
 Water has tendency to ionize and to release protons (H+) or
hydroxyls (OH-) into external solution and play important
role in buffering capacity
Hydrogen bonds and their effect on
mechanical properties
Energy
Life on the Earth as well as climatic conditions
are strongly depended on solar energy.

 Sun radiation is an electromagnetic

radiation consists of all kinds radiation
from γ radiation up to the longest waves.
 Maximum energy is radiated at 475 nm.
 Energy absorbed by chlorophyll is
transformed into chemical one and use for
photosynthesis.
 Energy absorbed by abiotic particles is
transferred into thermal energy important
for plant growth as well.
Nutrients - specific elements required for
plant growth and completion of development
cycle

 There are required in gaseous or liquid

forms
 There are taken by roots (main pathway for
majority of nutrients) or by leaves (main
pathway for carbon uptake)
 Nutrient uptake is affected by several
external and internal factors
Definition of element as nutrient:
 For an element to be considered an
essential plant nutrient three following
criteria must be met.
 These are:
 Element deficiency does not allow to plant to
complete its life cycle
 Symptom of deficiency is specific for
individual element
 The element is directly involved in nutrition
of individual plant as part of an essential
metabolite or required for the action of an
enzyme system
Element content in lithosphere, soil, living organisms
and in human body in % (Duchoň a Hampl, 1959)
Element Lithosphere Soil Organism Human body
O 49.13 55.00 70.00 63.00
H 1.00 5.00 10.50 9.00
C 0.10 1.00 18.00 20.20
N 0.01 0.15 0.30 3.00
Si 25.75 20.00 0.15 0.08
Al 7.51 7.00 0.02 0.001
Fe 5.10 2.00 0.02 0.01
Ca 3.39 2.00 0.50 2.00
Na 2.64 1.00 0.02 0.20
K 2.50 1.00 0.30 0.25
Mg 2.35 1.00 0.07 0.027
P 0.08 0.10 0.17 0.95
Cl 0.048 0.10 0.04 0.08
S 0.048 0.40 0.05 0.16
J 0.00005 0.0001 0.00005 0.014

B 0.001 0.0007 0.00003 trace

Development of carbohydrate complexes
Main groups of nutrients in plants
 Basic components (%)
 C H O
45 6 45
 Macronutrients (%)
 N 1.5
 P 0.2
 K 1.0
 Ca 0.5
 Mg 0.2
 S 0.1
 Micronutrients (mg.kg-1, ppm)
 B 200
 Fe 100
 Mn 50
 Zn 20
 Cu 6
 Mo 0.1
 Tolerable elements (%)
 Si Cl Al Na
 1 0.15 0.1 0.01
Basic crop composition

Plant part Weight (%) Dry matter (%)

water dry matter C O H N ash

Wheat grain 14 86 46 43 6 2.3 2.4
Rye straw 14 86 50 40 6 0.4 3.6
Seed of pea 14 86 46.5 40 6.2 4.2 3.1
Potato tubers 75 25 44 45 5.8 1.5 4.0
Relative nutrient content in oats during the
course of growing period (Mengel, 1987)
Accumulation period
Relative
nutrient
content Dilution period

ear development

maturation
shooting

flowering
seedlings

tillering
 Dynamic of biomass development and
total uptake of nutrients by plants

Mass units Dry matter

P, Ca, Mg

Growing period
Removal of nutrients by agricultural crops and
vegetables (kg.ha-1)

Plant Yield N P K Ca Mg
(t.ha-1)
Wheat total 5 125 26 100 21 12
grain 95 20 25 - 6
Sugar total 40 176 28 188 10 34
beet roots 64 12 84 8 12
Potatoes total 30 150 26 198 108 27
tubers 75 14 105 63 7
White cabbage 70 228 42 166 196 21
Lettuce 10 23 5 35 14 2
 Schematic growing curve and nutrient removal by carrot
May June July Aug. Sept.
100 %
DryPřibývání
matter development
sušiny 80 %
AAvtotal
celku
A
BBvleaves
listech 25 %
B 30 % 30 %
CCvroots
kořenech 6%
15 % 12 %
C
-1
Yield t.ha-1
of 30 t.ha
Sklizeň
odebírá z půdy 13 %
70 %
2% 10 % 50 %
25 %
-1
N- 95 kg.ha 85 %
100 %
1% 4% 25%
P- 17,6 kg.ha
-1 85 %
100 %
5%
2% 25 %
-1 80 %
K - 124,5 kg.ha
100 %
1% 2%
-1 12 % 50 %
Ca - 85,7 kg.ha
100 %
 Nutrient uptake

Root uptake Leaf uptake

from soil solution (prevailing) from gaseous, liquid phase (minor)
a) solid phase liquid phase a) diffusion through free space
b) liquid phase root surface b) uptake
c) root surface plant uptake
Factors: Factors:
1. Flow of soil solution 1. Transport cuticle
2. Density of roots stomata
3. Chemotrophism 2. Climate conditions
4. Root exudates 3. Nutrient concentration - plasmolysis
5. Mycorrhiza
Root system of (a) sugar beet, (b) maize,
(c) wheat and (d) clover

100 100
cm cm

160 60
Diagrammatic representation of a longitudinal section
of tobacco root tip showing the spatial relations and
order of maturation of different tissues
Rhizosphere
 Thin layer of the soil surrounding plant roots
 Specific environment supporting uptake of
ions by plant roots
 Changing mobility of pollutants
 Providing substrate for microbes to mobilize
or immobilize elements
Main functions in rhizosphere
MICROBIAL POPULATION (M.O.)
EXUDATES
( sugars, organic acids, amino acids,
Number of M.O. phytosiderophores)
typically one order of
magnitude higher

Microbial
activity
10-40% of total net C assimilation
Root

Biochemical reactor
H
1 2 [mm]
mm CH O C
2 C H C O CH
O C O 2
CH N O CH
2 2
 pH M NH
up to 2 units CH OH O C H
2
Major controlling factor:
CH C O
N supply 2
The development of phosphorus depletion zones
in the rhizosphere of rape (Kuchenbuch, 1982)
Mycorrhizas

 Associations between microorganisms and

higher plants.
 Fungus is strongly dependent on the
higher plant.
 Plants may or may not benefit from the
fungus.
Schematic presentation of effects of mycorrhizal
colonization on root morphology and distribution of
noninfecting rhizosphere
Plant cell – basic unit of life organism consists
of several organelles surrounded by specific
membranes and cell walls
Plasma membrane – Flexible sheet of
fatty material protected cell content
Different types of transport across membranes
 Photosynthesis –unique process
•The process of carbohydrate synthesis from inorganic
molecules CO2 and H2O

• Catch of light energy and its transformation and

storage
• Energy used for CO2 and water synthesis to produce
monosugars mainly glucose.

•Light dependent reactions- driven by light energy

•Light independent energy (dark) – release of energy
from carriers and transfer it into glucose,
Uptake of basic nutrients
 C, O as CO2
 by diffusion through:

 stomatal pores

 interlayer space

 mesophyll walls
 plasmalema

 chloroplast membrane

 stroma

 H, O as H2O
 by transpiration
A Cluster of Pigment Molecules
Basic pathway of photosynthesis
 Light dependent and light independent reactions
The Major Path of Electron Flow During the
Light-Dependent Reactions
C4 metabolism
Effects of atmospheric CO2 enrichment on CO2
fixation in sugar-beet leaves
Thank you for your attention.