Nitrogen in Soil and Plants

Nitrogen is one of the macronutrients which is required in large amounts for plant metabolism and growth. It is absorbed in Ammonium (NH₄⁺), Nitrate (NO₃^-) ions forms.

Nitrogen Cycle

The nitrogen cycle is a biological process through which nitrogen in the atmosphere is converted into ammonium ions and nitrate ions to soil to the organism and again into the ecosystem. Nitrogen exists in two forms organic forms and inorganic forms. Organic forms involve animal waste, manures, residue, etc they all need to go through the decomposition process. Inorganic forms involve symbiotic bacteria which converts nitrogen into the usable form so that plants can absorb it. The nitrogen cycle includes several processes such as Nitrogen fixation, Nitrification, Assimilation, Ammonification and Denitrification.

Nitrogen Fixation	Converts Atmospheric nitrogen (N2) which is an inert form into usable ammonia (NH3). Symbiotic bacteria involved in this process are Diazotrophs, Azotobacter and Rhizobium. Types of Nitrogen fixation involved are atmosphere fixation - natural phenomenon (energy of lightning), industrial nitrogen fixation - man-made alternative (Urea) and biological nitrogen fixation - bacteria like Rhizobium and blue-green algae fixes nitrogen components in soil.
Nitrification	The ammonia is converted into nitrate by oxidation of ammonia with help of Nitrosomonas bacteria and later produce nitrites into nitrates by Nitrobacter as shown in the following reactions. 2 NH₄⁺ + 3O₂ → 2 NO₂⁻ + 4 H⁺ + 2H₂O 2 NO₂⁻ + O₂ → 2 NO₃⁻
Assimilation	The process of converting nitrogen compounds such as ammonium ion, nitrate ion, nitrite ion is used for the formation of plants and animal protein.
Ammonification	When organic material decomposes the nitrogen present in these matters are released into the soil and converts into ammonium. Organic material is decomposed by bacteria or fungi in soil and produces ammonia which is used for biological processes.
Denitrification	The process in which nitrate (NO₃^-) converts into Nitrogen (N) is called denitrification and in this process, nitrate is reduced and gives out free nitrogen as a by-product. Bacteria involved in this process are Clostridium and Pseudomonas bacteria.

Nitrogen in Soil

Atmospheric nitrogen is a major source of nitrogen in the soil. In the atmosphere, nitrogen exists in N₂ form and must be converted before it becomes useful in the soil.
Rhizobia is a bacterium that infects the roots of and receives much food energy from, legume plants can fix much more nitrogen per year. The quantity of nitrogen fixed by Rhizobium bacteria exceeds that needed by the microbes themselves for use by the host legume plant.
Nitrogen has three forms soil organic nitrogen compounds, ammonium (NH₄⁺) ions, and nitrate (NO₃⁻) ions. In soil, nitrogen is available in organic forms in a natural way as plant and animal residues but this nitrogen is not directly available to plants, it needs microorganisms to convert so that they can be available for plants. Soil nitrogen mineralization is generally slow and contributes only slightly to nitrogen in the soil. The inorganic forms (NH₄⁺ and NO₃⁻) are mostly available in the soil. Ammonium ions bind to the soil in a negatively charged cation exchange complex (CEC). Nitrate ions do not bind to the soil solids because they have negative charges, but exist dissolved in the soil solution and easily leach, or precipitated as soluble salts under dry conditions.
Ammonium (NH₄⁺) fixation increases with an increase in 15 the content particularly 2:1 type of clay minerals like vermiculite, fine-grained mica, and smectite.
Fixation of ammonium ion (NH₄⁺) is generally higher in subsoil due to higher clay content and a lower rate of nitrification.

Nitrogen in Soil

Importance of Nitrogen in Plants

Nitrogen is a major component of chlorophyll, the compound by which plants use sunlight energy for photosynthesis to produce sugars from water and carbon dioxide.
Nitrogen is an energy-transfer compound, such as ATP (adenosine triphosphate). ATP allows cells to conserve and use the energy released in metabolism in plants.
Nitrogen is a major component of amino acids. It is an essential constituent of protein and is present in many other compounds of physiological importance in plant metabolism.
Nitrogen produces early growth and also results in delays in maturity in plants.
A complex group of proteins such as Nucleoproteins is involved in the development and hereditary process. It is a significant component of nucleic acids such as DNA (Deoxyribonucleic acid), RNA (Ribonucleic acid) the genetic material that allows cells to grow and reproduce.
Nitrogen governs the utilization of potassium, phosphorus, and other elements. Improves the quality of leafy vegetables and fodders and also increases the protein content.

Importance of Nitrogen in Plants

Using nitrogen fertilizers in agricultural production

Balanced fertilizer is key; too little nitrogen and plants cannot thrive, leading to low crop yields; but too much nitrogen can be toxic to plants, and can also harm our environment. Farmers normally add nitrogen fertilizer to produce better crops, but too much can hurt plants, animals and pollute aquatic systems.

Analyzing and evaluating nitrogen content in soil and crops will help build a balanced and effective fertilizer plan in agricultural production.

Eurofins Sac Ky Hai Dang's Agroscience Service will help you get insight into the status of nitrogen nutrients in the soil along with other nutrients and soil fertility indicators.

Eurofins Sac Ky Hai Dang - Soil analysis, soil quality assessment and fertilizer recommendation Service

How much will the crop absorb? How much follow-up applying is required? Which fertilizer to use? With modern, innovative and reliable technologies, our Soil analysis, soil quality assessment and fertilizer recommendation Service, the top service in the chain of AgroScience services in Eurofins Sac Ky Hai Dang, will give you the information to achieve this.

We use Near-Infrared Spectroscopy (NIRS) technology for soil analysis. This is considered as a green technology with competitive cost: very fast technique, non-destructive, optimizes sample preparation time, etc. Moreover, this technique was developed and delivered by Eurofins Agro Wageningen Netherlands, with nearly 100 years of experience, obtaining a very large dataset in soil analysis by both conventional methods and NIRS technology, bringing to the accuracy and reliability of our services.

Soil analysis, soil quality assessment and fertilizer recommendation Service

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