Basic soil chemistry and fertility

Topics covered in Chapter 1 include ion adsorption, cation exchange capacity and development of charges in soil. The importance of ion exchange in soil is also emphasized in this chapter. Chapter 2 covers the concepts of soil organic matter. This chapter also deals with different types of soil organic matter in soil and their decomposition. It also shows the factors that affect the accumulation and decomposition of organic matter in soil. Chapter 3 deals with the concepts of soil macro nutrients and their soil plant interrelationship. Chapter 4 deals with the various micro nutrients found in soil and some toxic ones that affect soil productivity. Chapter 5 shows the different types of fertilizers, indicating their grade and ratios. This chapter also deals with different types of fertilizer application methods. Finally, Chapters 6 is concerned with the general area of soil fertility and fertilizer use. Greater stress has been placed on mass flow and diffusion in regard to nutrientuptake. The interaction of water and soil fertility is developed, and there is expanded coverage of soil fertility evaluation and the methods used to formulate fertilizer recommendations.