Skip to content
Research Article Open access CC BY 4.0

Essentiality of Micronutrients in Soil: A Review

Aaditya Sagwal, Priyanshu Wadhwa, Shubham, Shilpa Kaushal

International Journal of Plant & Soil Science · pp. 56–65 · Published 26 Dec 2023

10.9734/ijpss/2023/v35i244297

Abstract

Micronutrients are very abundant in soil but plants normally absorb only a little amount of them, giving them the name "trace elements".  Boron (B), Copper (Cu), Iron (Fe), Manganese (Mn), Zinc (Zn), Molybdenum (Mo), and Nickel (Ni) are the essential micronutrients that are required in smaller amounts but crucial for plant growth and development. Besides providing essentiality in fruits and seeds formation, they are helpful in performing various metabolic processes, nutritional management, reproductive growth, chlorophyll synthesis, and other key plant activities. Among all the essential micronutrients, two particular elements, zinc (Zn) and boron (B) are deficit in acidic soils and zinc (Zn) and iron (Fe)are insufficient in semi-arid soils, which have become a rising problem in a variety of cropping systems thereby, raising alarms for the future. Our understanding of difficulties relating to micronutrients might be improved by the production of detailed soil micronutrient maps that cover wide geographic regions, making relevant judgments about the delivery and distribution of fertilizers supplemented with micronutrients to areas that are deficient in these particular micronutrients. The outcomes of these delineation efforts would also be very helpful in developing site-specific suggestions to increase the micronutrient content of food crops. It's important to note that soil micronutrient availability directly affects plant growth.

Micronutrients soil sustainability quality production

References (6)

  1. 1 MANGANESE AS ESSENTIAL AND TOXIC ELEMENT FOR PLANTS: TRANSPORT, ACCUMULATION AND RESISTANCE MECHANISMS [DOI]
  2. 2 Boron and Its Role in Crop Production
  3. 3 Micronutrients Deficiencies vis-a-vis Food and Nutritional Security of India
  4. 4 Potential of Different Nitrification Inhibitors on Growth of Late Sown Cauliflower Var. Pusa Snowball K-1 and Behavior of Soil NH4+ and NO3- in Typic Eutrochrept Under Mid Hills of NW Himalayas [DOI]
  5. 5 Copper for Crop Production
  6. 6 Environmental and Soil Factors Affecting Micronutrient Deficiencies and Toxicities [DOI]

Cited by 11

Biocontrol of toxicity heavy metal residues in milk and dairy products via a probiotic cocktail in soft cheese

Gamal M. Hamad, Mukhtar M.F. Abushaala, Dalia Kamal Rawy · Journal of Food Composition and Analysis · 2025

Physicochemical Remediation of Coal Mining Water using Carbonaceous and Geopolymeric Adsorbents to Reduce Toxicity to Enchytraeus Crypticus

Leticia Samara Kruze, Gabriel Tochetto, Aline Alves Freitas · Water, Air, & Soil Pollution · 2026

Diversity of soil microorganisms and their impact on soil functions

Amir Hosein Yadegari, Hassan Etesami · Soil Microorganisms for Plant Growth Promotion and Soil Health · 2026

Impact of agricultural activities on trace element levels in soils of Mato Grosso, Brazil

Daisy Rickli Binde, Milton Ferreira de Moraes, Stephan M. Haefele · Chemosphere · 2025

Augmenting green gram (Vigna radiata L.) growth and productivity by phosphorus and boron addition in soil

Mohammad Mahmudul Hasan, Md. Sajjad Hossain, Md. Sowban Chowdhury · Journal of Bioscience and Environment Research · 2025

Environmental impact on grain quality in Ethiopian sorghum landraces

Chalachew Endalamaw, Dagmawit Tsegaye, Habte Nida · Journal of Agriculture and Food Research · 2025

Showing 10 of 11 known citations — external sources report more than can currently be individually listed.

Article metrics

Real usage data collected on this platform.

0

Page views

0

PDF downloads

0

Outbound clicks

11

Citations

Views by country

Approximate, from request IP at view time — not citizenship or institution. Countries with fewer than 5 views are grouped as "Other".

No views recorded yet.

Traffic sources

Referring site, by host.

No traffic recorded yet.

Views and downloads exclude known bots/crawlers. Citations combines this platform's own DOI-resolved index with each external source's own reported total — see Cited by above for individually listed citing works. Last refreshed 0 seconds ago.