IMPROVEMENT OF PLANT MINERAL-NUTRITION THROUGH BREEDING

Considerable progress has been made in crop improvement for resistance and adaptation to mineral nutritional problems in soils. This paper discusses some of the advances made in plant improvement or efficiency for low nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, and iron levels. Various techniques and strategies have been used. The strategy of improving plants for enhanced ability to better utilize and grow with limited amounts of mineral nutrients has merit compared to the continual changing of soils to meet plant nutritional needs, especially if resources are limited, costs of production are high, and environmental contamination problems arise.