Chemical Fertilizers and Vermi compost

Fertilizers All plants need certain mineral nutrients to survive. These minerals occur naturally in the soil and are taken up from the soil by the roots of the plants. Most soils usually have enough of these minerals to keep plants healthy. However, some nutrients are gradually used up by the plants, or are washed out … Read more

Transpiration

Transpiration is the process by which moisture is carried through plants from roots to small pores on the underside of leaves, where it changes to vapor and is released to the atmosphere. Transpiration is essentially evaporation of water from plant leaves.The survival of plants is dependent on a number of factors which include water, minerals, gases, and nutrients … Read more

Photosynthesis

Photosynthesis Photosynthesis, the process by which green plants and certain other organisms transform light energy into chemical energy. During photosynthesis in green plants, light energy is captured and used to convert water, carbon dioxide, and minerals into oxygen and energy-rich organic compounds. It would be impossible to overestimate the importance of photosynthesis in the maintenance … Read more

Usefulness of plants and human affairs

Usefulness of plants and human affairs (utility) Food Plants are the main source of food for humans. Plants, unlike humans and animals, manufacture their own food. They do so by the process known as photosynthesis in their green leaves by use of sunlight.  They can convert and store the light energy in the form of … Read more

Plants

Plants Plant, any multicellular eukaryotic life-form characterized by photosynthetic nutrition (a characteristic possessed by all plants except some parasitic plants and underground orchids), in which chemical energy is produced from water, minerals, and carbon dioxide with the aid of pigments and the radiant energy of the Sun, essentially unlimited growth at localized regions, cells that … Read more

Medicinal and aromatic plants

Medicinal and aromatic plants Medicinal and aromatic plants constitute a major segment of the flora, which provides raw materials for use in the pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, and drug industries. The indigenous systems of medicines, developed in India for centuries, make use of many medicinal herbs. These systems include Ayurveda, Siddha, Unani, and many other indigenous practices. … Read more

Uses and harms of bacteria and virus

Uses and harms of bacteria and virus Harmful bacteria Pathogenic Bacteria These bacteria cause great losses to plant and animal popula­tion by causing several diseases. Reduction of Soil Fertility Some facul­tative anaerobic bacteria are available mostly in the oxygen deficient soil which reverse the nitrifying process, thereby causing the loss of a part of its … Read more

Fungi and their beneficials

Fungi fungi, any of about 99,000 known species of organisms of the kingdom Fungi, which includes the yeasts, rusts, smuts, mildews, molds, and mushrooms. There are also many funguslike organisms, including slime molds and oomycetes (water molds), that do not belong to kingdom Fungi but are often called fungi. Many of these funguslike organisms are … Read more

Microorganisms: Common bacteria, virus

Microorganisms Microscopic organisms, commonly known as microorganisms or microbes, are found all around us and even inside our bodies. The category ‘Microbes’ includes a massive range of organisms including bacteria, fungi, viruses, algae, archaea and protozoa. Some of these, such as bacteria and fungi, are well known, but others such as archaea much less so. … Read more

Transgenic plants (genetically modified) and their beneficial and harmful effects on environment

Transgenic Plants Transgenic plants are plants that have been genetically modified by inserting genes directly into a single plant cell. Transgenic crop plants modified for improved flavor, pest resistance, or some other useful property are being used increasingly. Transgenic plants are unique in that they develop from only one plant cell. In normal sexual reproduction, … Read more