SOIL 110

Introduction to Soil Fertility

Dinah Marie C. Dayag
Associate Professor 3
History of Soil Fertility
• HERODOTUS
- 2,500 B.C. (Greek Historian)
-mentioned about the high crop
yields in Mesopotamia where
land was bound by Tigris and
Euphrates River in what is now
Iraq
• Theophrastus
- 300 B.C.
- wrote about the richness of Tigris alluvium.
- Greek mythology tells that the King Augeus
contacted Hercules to clean his stable of 3,000m
oxen
- Hercules diverted the river Alpheus through the
stable and the dirt accumulated for 30 years was
deposited in the adjacent land where the crops
grew luxuriantly
- - the ancients also observed that dead bodies
increased growth of crops
- - Green manuring with legume crops was also
recognized as enriching the soil.
- Theophrastus citing the practice of farmers of
Thessaly and Macedonia of plowing under a bean
crops
CATO
-234 -149 B.C.
-He mentioned that the best
legumes for enriching the soil
field were field beans and
vetch and lupine
VIRGIL
-70 -19 B.C.
-He advocated the application
of legumes.
62 -113 B.C.
-The benefits of applying marl or lime
was also recognized.
-Collumella suggested the use of ash
or lime to destroy soil acidity
Golden Age of Greeks
- 800-200 B.C.
- Manure increased productivity
and prolonged land use
- Green manure crops, especially
legumes, enriched the soil.
- Marl increased productivity
- Saltpeter (KNO3) was beneficial
to plants
- Saline soils could be detected
by taste test.
Search for the Principle of Vegetation

• Francis Bacon (1561 -1624)

suggested that water is the
principal nourishment of plants
and that the soil serves only as
anchorage
• Jan Baptists von Helmont
(1577-1644) on his willow
shoot experiment indicated
that water is the sole
nutrients of plants.
• Robert Boyle (1627 -1691)
analyzed plant samples and
stated that plants contained
salts, spirits, earth and oil of
which are formed from water.
• He is better known for
expressing the relationship
between volume and
pressure of gas,
• John Woodward (1700)
- An Englishman using water from
various sources (Rainwater, Sewage
water, riverwater) – concluded that
earth rather than water is the principle
of vegetation
• Joseph Priestly (1775)
- discovered oxygen which paved the
way to discovery of photosynthesis and
respiration
 Age of Experimentation
• Jean Baptist Boussinggault
(1802 -1882) accelerated the
understading of plant nutrition
by initiating the field-plot
methods of experimentation.
•
 Modern Period (1800-
1900
• Justus von Liebig (1803 -1873)
• Laid the foundation for the modern
fertilizer industry.
• The growth of plants is limited by that
nutrient present below the minimum
requirement (Law of Minimum)
• Stressed the value of mineral elements
from the soil.
• Alkaline metals (Ca, Mg, and K) were
needed to neutralize acids formed by
plants
Liebig’s Law of Minimum
• If one of the essential nutrients is deficient,
growth will be poor even if all other
elements are abundant
• Following the many concepts in plamnt nutrition set by Liebig, the Rothamsted Experiment Station was
established in England in 1843 by J.B. Lames and J.H. Gilbert

• Thomas Way (1852) demonstrated the phenomenon of cations exchange

• M.W. Beijerinck (1886) – biological nitrogen fixation

• Benjamin Franklin demonstrated the value of gypsum by a unique method – applying gypsum in a
pasture.
What is SOIL FERTILITY
• Fertile Soil
- one that contains an adequate
supply of all the nutrients required
for the successful production of
plant life.
- Importance: Full potential of
crops is never realized if a
shortage of nutrient occurs at any
time during the growth cycle.
 SOIL FERTILITY
DEFINITIONS
• Inherent capacity of the soil to supply essential
nutrient elements to the plants in the right amount,
forms and proportion.
- INDEX: degree of availability of nutrient
• Nutrient status of the soil, the physical, chemical,
biological and other conditions affecting nutrient
availability and nutrient requirements of crops.
- INDEX: specific amount of nutrients – physical,
chemical and biological properties of soil
infleuncikng availability of nutrients.
 Relevant Parameters for
Soil Fertility
Physical Chemical Biological
Properties Properties Properties
Soil Texture pH Microorganism
Soil Density Cation Exchange Macroorganism
Capacity
Soil Color Nutrients Organic matter
availability content
Soil Structure
 Soil Productivity
• Soil productivity - capability of
the soil to produce a specified
plant under a specified system
of management (e.g Irrigation,
pesticide application, fertilizer &
manure application, weeding,
gap filling, thinning, pruning
etc.)  and is expressed in terms
of yields. 
 Something to ponder
about….
• Fertile soils are always
productive?
• Productive soils are always
fertile?

Which is always TRUE? and

WHY?
 All productive soils are must be
fertile, but all fertile soils may not be
productive
• Soil fertility is the function of
available nutrients of soil fertility
= f (Nutrient status of Soil)
• Soil Productivity = f (Soil fertility
+ Management + Climate)
Soil Fertility in Relation to
Soil Productivity
• Plants need 16 elements for their
growth
Classification Nutrient Source
Basic C, H, O Air and water
Macronutrients N, P, K, CA, Soil
MG, S
Micronutrients Fe, Mn, Zn, Cu, Soil
B, Mo, Cl