Nitrogen Essay

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Nitrogen is used by plants in order to synthesize protein peptide bonds and for cell growth. Not only is this nutrient required in the largest quantity by plants, but it is also the most frequently limiting factor when it comes to productivity in crops. Plants cannot use nitrogen in the air and in the soil system it is lost easily. Because of this plants are forced to obtain nitrogen in the form of nitrate and ammonium from the soil. Too much nitrate can cause a negative effect on the plant including nitrate toxicity. High levels of nitrate are not only bad for plants but can also be dangerous to animals or humans in their presence. Here I discuss the scientific evidence of the effects of nitrate accumulation on plants and the environment and argue that too much nitrate accumulation can be harmful to its surroundings.
Nitrogen is essential for plants because it is an essential component of all proteins. A lack of nitrogen in a plant diet can result in slower growth, stunted growth, and even chlorosis (1). Plants affected by chlorosis produce insufficient amounts of chlorophyll, reducing its ability to make carbohydrates through photosynthesis. These plants become a yellowish or pale color and eventually die from the lack of chlorophyll. (2) All of the transformations that nitrogen goes under in and out of the soil are known as the nitrogen cycle. Plants lose nitrogen from their soil system through run-off, leaching, volatilization, and denitrification. Most of the nitrogen that plants uptake from the soil is in the forms of ammonium and nitrate. Proteins and amino acids can only be built from nitrate and ammonia and therefore must be reduced. Organic nitrogen, found in organic matter, is converted into ammonium in the process...

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... urea, or sulfate a few days before crop harvesting. Other ways of lessening the amount of nitrate accumulation in plants substantially include rational application of organic manure instead of inorganic nutrients, use of physiologically active substances, proper spray of nitrification inhibitors and molybdenum fertilizers, and growing plants under controlled environmental conditions. Strategies for reducing nitrate accumulation in plants are not being put in place is due to the fact that the information has not been translated into practice by farmers. Training and education of these farmers is important in developing new practices on reducing nitrate accumulation on their crops. It is essential for these farmers to understand the effects of high nitrate consumption on human health and at the same time the importance of minimizing nitrate content in plant tissues.

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