Question

Essential mineral nutrients are the elements

• A. In the absence of which plants cannot complete their life cycle
• B. Which cannot be replaced by other element in its function
• C. The element which is directly associated with metabolism of the plant
• D. All of the above

Answer 1

Answer: (D)

All of the above

The criteria for essentiality of an element are -
(a) The element must be absolutely necessary for supporting normal growth and reproduction. In the absence of the element the plants do not complete their life cycle or set the seeds.
(b) The requirement of the element must be specific and not replaceable by another element. In other words, deficiency of any one element cannot be met by supplying some other element.
(c) The element must be directly involved in the metabolism of the plant.
Based upon the above criteria only a few elements have been found to be absolutely essential for plant growth and metabolism. These elements are further divided into two broad categories based on their quantitative requirements.
(i) macronutrients and (ii) micronutrients.