The Effect of Nitrogen and Phosphorus Fertilizer on the Growth of Brassica Rapa in Terrestrial Environment

The macronutrients found in agriculture fertilizer include nitrogen and phosphorus (Chislock et al. 2013; Smith, Tilman, and Nekola 1999).

How plants in terrestrial ecosystem, Brassica rapa, respond to macronutrients

            The results of the experiment showed that:

i. The rate Brassica rapa’s growth increased.

ii. The plant functioning such as photosynthesis increased.

            Smith et al. (1999) and Yang et al. (2014) also assert that macronutrients improve the health and yield of terrestrial plants. They claim that:

i. N and P regulate the photosynthetic capacity of a plant.

ii. The growth of plants is limited by the amount of N and P in the fertilizer.

            Thus, the growth as well as the rate of photosyntheis in Brassica rapa is low when exposed to inadequate amount of fertilizer and high when exposed to adequate amount of fertilizer.

Effect of excessive fertilizer on Brassica rapa plant

            The result of the experiment showed that:

i. The average shoot height of a stem cut from Brassica rapa supplied with excessive amount of fertilizer was 208.48 mm whereas that from Brassica rapa supplied with average amount of fertilizer measured 201.36 mm.

ii. The mean total leaf chlorophyll content in Brassica rapa increased from 3.77 to 4.03 µgmL-1

when it was supplied with excessive amount of fertilizer.

            Smith et al. (1999) and Smith and Schindler (2009) also support the findings of this experiment by asserting that:

i. Terrestrial plants require high amount of N for growth and production because this macronutrient is inadequate in soil.

ii. Excessive amount of P and N increase the growth of shoot biomass.

iii. High amount of fertilizer increases the availability of N which is the primary component chlorophyll.

Conclusion

            From the results of the experiment, one can conclude that fertilizer:

i. Influences the growth and development of plants.

ii. Increases the production of chlorophyll.

            Thus, the stem as well as the chlorophyll content of Brassica rapa was high in plants that were collected from soil rich in P and N.

            However, the understanding of this topic can be enhanced by conduction of a greenhouse experiment to evaluate the implications of fertilizer on the growth of Brassica rapa in terrestrial environment (Dania, Akpansubi, and Eghagara 2014). Thus, more research needs to be conducted to determine how regulation fertilizer influences the growth and functioning of a plant.

Reference List

Chislock, M. F., Doster, E., Zitomer, R. A. and Wilson, A. E. 2013. Eutrophication: Causes,            Consequences, and Controls in Aquatic Ecosystems. Nature Education Knowledge      4(4):10

Dania, S., Akpansubi, P., and Eghagara, O. 2014. Comparative effects of different fertilizer          sources on the growth and nutrient content of Moringa (Moringa oleifera) seedling in a greenhouse trial. Advances in Agriculture.

Smith, V. andSchindler, D. 2009. Eutrophication science: where do we go from here? Trends in         Ecology and Evolution.

Smith, V., Tilman, G., and Nekola, J. 1999. Eutrophication: impacts of excess nutrient inputs on         freshwater, marine, and terrestrial ecosystems. Environmental Pollution. 100; 179-196.

Yang, X. et al. 2014. Scaling of nitrogen and phosphorus across plant organs in shrubland        biomes across Northern China. Scientific Reports.