Sulphur in Soils and Plants: An Overview
2 Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Piprakothi, East Champaran, Dr. Rajendra Prasad Central Agricultural University, Pusa, Samastipur, Bihar-848125, India.
3 Division of Soil Science and Agricultural Chemistry, Indian Agricultural Research Institute, Pusa, New Delhi-110012, India.
4 KVKs, Dr. Rajendra Prasad Central Agricultural University, Pusa, Samastipur, Bihar, India.
5 Centre of Excellence on Water Management, Dr Rajendra Prasad Central Agricultural University, Pusa, Samastipur, Bihar-848125, India.
6 Department of Agricultural Chemistry, Chaudhary Shivnath Singh Sandilya (PG) College, Machhra, Merrut, Uttar Pradesh-250106, India.
7 Water Technology Center, ICAR-IARI, Pusa, New Delhi, 110012, India.
8 Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Muzaffarpur (Additional), Dr Rajendra Prasad Central Agricultural University, Pusa, Samastipur, Bihar-848125, India.
9 Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Birauli, Samastipur, Dr Rajendra Prasad Central Agricultural University, Pusa, Samastipur, Bihar-848125, India.
10 ICAR-National Research Center on Litchi, Muzaffarpur, Bihar, India.
11 Department of Biotechnology, Society of Higher Education and Practical Application (SHEPA), Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India.
12 Department of Soil Science and Agricultural Chemistry, Institute of Agricultural Sciences, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi-221005, India.
Résumé
In India food demand is increasingly doubled due to calorie consumption of fast growing population rate. For achieving and sustaining a high level of food production, especially in agriculture, soil must be regularly replenished with a balance of crop nutrients, like macronutrients, secondary nutrients and micronutrients. Sulphur (S) comes under secondary nutrients after nitrogen, phosphorus and potash (potassium) at number four as an essential nutrient. It exists in group 16 and period 3 with a molecular weight of 32 in the periodic table. Naturally S occurs as an element found in many minerals like iron pyrites, galena, gypsum and Epsom salts. In Igneous and Sedimentary rocks S occurs as sulphides and in soil it is also present as organic compounds also in industrial wastes, sea water as well as gaseous emission in the atmosphere. Under temperate conditions it assumes that more than 95% of total S in soil is present in the organic matter due to low decomposition rate. In plants, sulphur plays an important role in protein synthesis.