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The following is reprinted from: Micronutrients: A New Dimension in Agriculture by Dr. Everett J. Dennis, published by the National Fertilizer Solutions Association (NFSA). Copyright 1971 NFSA.
THE IMPORTANCE OF MICRONUTRIENTS - INTRODUCTION
In this manual, your NFSA Agronomist is going to tell you about micronutrients – where we find them, how they act in the soil, how they get into the plant, and what they do there.
The six essential plant micronutrients are boron, copper, iron, manganese, molybdenum and zinc. They are often needed by growing crops in greater quantity than the soil can supply. All of them are available in a variety of forms as fertilizer amendments, and when properly applied to deficient soils, will give greater yields... and greater profits to you and your customers.
Micronutrients in plants are just part of the story. The other part deals with the needs of humans and animals for these same micronutrients for normal life processes. The importance and effect of the micronutrient content of plants upon animal nutrition will be the subject of much research in the future. Just as we recently obtained the information of zinc requirement in the formation of the essential amino acid, tryptophane, so also should the information on other micronutrients be brought to light in relation to human and animal nutrition through plant life. This information will help chart the course of our micronutrient fertilizer programs in the future.
Your NFSA Agronomist would like to start at the beginning – in order to explain the micronutrient story.
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