MAINTAIN THE

GROWTH OF
VEGETABLE CROPS
Apply Recommended Kind and Rate of
Fertilizers
• PLANT FOOD. PLANTS AND
ANIMALS REQUIRE FOOD FOR
GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT.
THIS FOOD IS COMPOSED OF
CERTAIN CHEMICAL ELEMENTS
OFTEN REFERRED TO AS
PLANT-FOOD ELEMENTS.
NITROGEN
• PROMOTES DARK GREEN
COLOR; LEAF, STEM, AND
FRUIT DEVELOPMENT; AND
HASTENS GROWTH AND
INCREASES THE PROTEIN
CONTENT OF THE CROP.
PHOSPHOROUS

•Favors rapid plant growth

and development; hastens
fruiting and maturity; and
improves the quality of the
crop.
POTASIUM

•HASTENS MATURITY;
STIMULATES BLOOMING;
AIDS IN SEED
FORMATION; AND GIVES
PLANTS HARDINESS.
CALCIUM
• CORRECTS ACIDITY; ACTS AS
PROTECTIVE SIEVE FOR THE
NITRATES TO SET THROUGH IN
PASSING INTO THE CELLS;
AND ACTS AS A CEMENT
BETWEEN THE WALLS OF THE
CELLS TO HOLD THEM
TOGETHER.
MAGNESIUM
• THE KEY ELEMENT IN THE
MOLECULE OF
CHLOROPHYLL AND MG
COMBINES WITH THE
PHOSPHATES SO THAT THE
LATTER CAN MOVE TO THEIR
PROPER PLACES IN THE
PLANT.
SULFUR/ MANGANESE

•GIVES GREEN COLOR

TO THE YOUNGER
LEAVES INCLUDING
THE VEINS.
BORON
• BORON HUNGER RESULTS IN A
REDDISH-YELLOW
DISCOLORATION AND OFTEN
THERE IS PURPLISH TONE,
FIRST SEEN ON THE MARGINS
OF THE LEAVES OR THE TIP
HALF.
COPPER

• HELPS IN SEEDSTALK
FORMATION.
ZINC

•TREATS ABNORMALLY
SMALL LEAVES OR
LEAVES THAT ARE
YELLOW OR MOTTLED IN
APPEARANCE.
IRON

•TREATS CHLOROSIS
MOLYBDENUM
• INFLUENCES THE UTILIZATION
OF NITROGEN BY THE PLANT
AND IT IS REQUIREDBEFORE
NITROGEN-FIXING BACTERIA
CAN UTILIZE ATMOSPHERIC
NITROGEN.
CHLORINE
• TENDS TO CONCENTRATE IN
SOME PLANTS, IN THE VEINS
AND FLORAL PARTS, AND
APPEARS TO BE TIED UP IN
SOME WAY IN THE
FORMATION OF THE RED,
BLUE, AND VIOLET PIGMENTS.
HASTENS MATURITY.
• PLANT FOOD REFERS TO THE NECESSARY
MATERIALS WHICH A PLANT USES SO IT
CAN BUILD NEW TISSUES AND, AT THE
SAME TIME, CARRY ON ITS NORMAL
FUNCTIONS.
• ACCORDING TO MCVICKAR (1970),
FERTILIZER IS ANY MANUFACTURED OR
PROCESSED MATERIAL OR MIXTURE OF
MATERIALS THAT CONTAINS ONE OR MORE
OF THE RECOGNIZED PLANT-FOOD
ELEMENTS, IN LIQUID OR DRY FORM.
• On the other hand, INGO (2005), claimed that a
fertilizer is any organic or inorganic material of
natural or synthetic origin, which is added to the
soil to supply certain elements essential to plant
growth.
• Fertilizers are used to increase the growth rate,
yield, and quality or nutritive value of plants. The
manual explained further that for many decades
in the past, the term fertilizers practically meant
commercial fertilizers of non-living origin. In
recent years, however, increasing attention has
been focused on organic and biofertilizers that
are biological sources of plant nutrients.
• The proper usage of fertilizers requires knowledge not
only of their properties but also of their effects on soil. The
amount of fertilizer to be applied depends on many
factors, which include the nutrient requirement of the
plants, the ability of the soil to supply nutrients, yield
potential, other management practices, the capability of
the farmer, and other environmental factors particularly
rainfall.
KINDS OF FERTILIZER
1. ORGANIC FERTILIZERS
• ARE FARM MANURES, COMPOST, CROP RESIDUES,
AND OTHER FARM WASTES, WHICH SUPPLY
NUTRIENTS AND IMPROVE SOIL PHYSICAL
CONDITIONS. ORGANIC FERTILIZER IS GENERALLY
THE MOST VALUABLE SOIL CONDITIONER.
• THESE FERTILIZERS SHOULD SERVE AS
SUPPLEMENT TO INORGANIC FERTILIZERS. THESE
IMPROVE THE PHYSICAL MAKE-UP OF THE SOIL
MAKING THE SOIL POROUS AND RICH IN ORGANIC
MATTER AS EXPLAINED BY SANGATAN AND
SANGATAN (2000).
SOURCES OF ORGANIC FERTILIZER
AS FOLLOWS:
• Animal wastes: cattle, carabao, pig, goat, poultry, and horse
manure or urine, etc.
• Crop wastes: rice straw, corn stalks, weeds, stubbles, plant
leaves, husks, etc.
• Human inhabitation wastes: night soil, sewage, and garbage
• Green manure: ipil-ipil leaves, legumes, and madre de cacao
leaves
• Water crops or plants: water hyacinth (water lily), water
alligator, and water lettuce
• Biological organic sources: azolla, and blue green algae
Silt, river mud, and pond mud
By-product of biogas digester, digested sludge, and effluent
Other sources: animal bone, ash, seaweeds, and guano (bat
manure)
2. INORGANIC (CHEMICAL)
FERTILIZERS)
• USUALLY RESULT FROM
CHEMICAL PROCESSES SUCH AS
SULFURIC ACID TREATMENT OR
ROCK PHOSPHATE TO PRODUCE
SUPERPHOSPHATE. IT CONSISTS
OF MATERIALS PROCESSED OR
TRANSFORMED INTO A CHEMICAL
MATERIAL OR FERTILIZER.
TYPES OF FERTILIZER BASED ON
THE FERTILIZER ELEMENT PRESENT
• 1. SINGLE ELEMENT FERTILIZER contains only one of
the major fertilizer elements. Examples: Ammonium
sulfate, urea, and superphosphate
• 2. INCOMPLETE FERTILIZER contains only two major
elements like ammophos (nitrogen and phosphorus).
• 3. COMPLETE FERTILIZER contains the three primary
plant food elements: nitrogen, phosphorus, and
potassium.
METHODS OF FERTILIZER
APPLICATION
1. BROADCAST METHOD
• .THE FERTILIZER MATERIAL IS APPLIED
UNIFORMLY OVER THE ENTIRE AREA
BEFORE PLANTING OR WHILE THE CROP
IS GROWING. TOPDRESSING REFERS TO
BROADCAST APPLICATION ON GROWING
CROPS. UNIFORM DISTRIBUTION OF THE
FERTILIZER ENABLES SAFE APPLICATION
OF LARGE QUANTITIES OF FERTILIZER
WITHOUT INJURING THE CROP.
HOWEVER, IT MAY REDUCE FERTILIZER
EFFICIENCY BECAUSE OF FERTILIZER
FIXATION OR BY VOLATIZATION.
2. LOCALIZED APPLICATION.
• The fertilizer is applied close to the seed
or plant, either in band adjacent to the
plant rows (side dressing) or by plow-
sole application. In the plow-sole
method, the fertilizer is covered lightly
with soil before seeding or planting.
Localized application is essential for
high rate applications of high analysis
fertilizers. This method is commonly
used for most vegetables.
3. FOLIAR APPLICATION.
• Plant nutrients may be applied on the
aerial part of the plant. The dissolved
nutrient must penetrate the cuticle of
the leaf or the stomata and then enter
the plant cells. This method is usually
employed only in applying
micronutrients. Marginal leaf-burn could
occur with the application of high
concentrations of fertilizer.
4. APPLIED WITH THE SEED
• – Fertilizer is broadcast
together with the seeds or
the seeds are coated with
fertilizer by means of an
adhesive such as cellofas or
gum Arabic.
5. FERTIGATION

•This involves dissolving

the fertilizer materials in
water and then applying it
with the use of a sprinkler.
METHODS OF DETERMINING
SOIL FERTILITY
1. FIELD FERTILIZER TRIALS
•.As the term implies, field fertilizer
trial experiment is carried out in
the field. It could be conducted in
different places under different
seasons. When managed and
conducted properly, the results
obtained from this method are very
reliable.
2. SOIL ANALYSIS.
• It is a rapid method of assessing the fertilizer needs of
crops. The principle involved is that the amounts of
available nutrients in the soil are directly related up to a
critical point with the growth and yield of crop.
Soil analysis consists of four phases namely:
• 1. Proper collection of soil samples
• 2. Chemical analysis
• 3. Interpretation of analytical results
• 4. Formulation of fertilizer recommendation growth and
yield of crop.
3. PLANT TISSUE ANALYSIS.
• This is customarily made of fresh plant
tissue in the field. It is a quick test and is
important in the diagnosis of the needs of
growing plants. Sap from ruptured cells is
tested for assimilated N-P-K. Tests for other
elements such as Mg and Mn are also
done. The concentration of the nutrients in
the cell sap is usually a good indication of
how well the plant is supplied at the time of
testing.
4. NUTRIENT DEFICIENCY SYMPTOM.
• An abnormal appearance of the growing
plant may be caused by a deficiency of one
or more nutrient elements. This visual
method of evaluating soil fertility is unique
and it requires no expensive equipment. It
can also be used as a supplement to other
diagnostic techniques.
LOSS OF NUTRIENTS FROM THE
SOIL
• The fertility of the soil is not
lasting. It is usually lost through
mismanagement by farmers who
work in the land. There are many
ways in which soil fertility is
depleted.
 LOSS OF NUTRIENT FROM THE
CROPS
•. Plants utilize large quantities of nutrients from
the soil for their growth. The plants having
reached their maturity are harvested and sold.
Thus, the organic matters and the minerals that
composed the harvested crops are taken away
from the farm. The constant removal of soil
fertility through the crops will make the soil poor.
This is the reason why production will decrease
year by year if we do not fertilize our crops.
• The amount of soil nutrient lost through the crops
depends on the kind of crops grown. Crops may be
classified into three categories:
• 1. HEAVY FEEDERS are those crops that utilize a large
quantity of all the three essential plant food elements or it
may be a heavy feeder as regards one element but a light
feeder as regards to another.
• 2. MEDIUM FEEDERS consume not much of the
essential plant food elements.
• 3. LIGHT FEEDERS consume only a little amount of the
plant food elements.
LOSS OF NUTRIENTS THROUGH SURFACE
RUN-OFF
•.Rain water or excess irrigation
water which runs off the surface of
the ground may carry not only soil
particles and the food they contain
but also the plant food which gets
dissolved in the running water.
LOSS OF NUTRIENTS THROUGH
LEACHING.
• Even if we do not plant, the minerals in
the soil may be lost by leaching, which
is when the soluble substances go
with the water that drains down to the
lower depths of the soil beyond the
reach of the roots. This is especially
true in cases of sandy soil.
SOIL EROSION.

•This is the greatest enemy of

the farmer. Erosion is the
removal of soil from the field
through natural forces.