The Importance of Sulfur as a Plant Nutrient in World Crop Production

The Oxidative Stress of Hyperhomocysteinemia Results from Reduced Bioavailability of Sulfur-Containing Reductants

“…The essentiality of S in the vegetable kingdom arose from observations made many decades ago by pedologists and agronomists [149,150] revealing that the withdrawal of sulfate salts from nutrient sources produces rapid growth retardation, depressed chlorophyllous synthesis, yellowing of leaves and reduction in fertility and crop yields. A large number of field studies, mainly initiated for economical reasons, has provided continuing gain in fundamental and applied knowledge and led to the overall consensus that SO 4 2--deficiency is a major wordwide problem [151,152].…”

Sulfur deficiency of rice plants in the Lower Volta area, Ghana

“…Therefore, the optimum quantity of S application is about 30% of the N requirement; i.e., replacement of 25% of nitrogen with ammonium sulfate (24% S) provides a sufficient quantity of sulfur to rice plants. Fertilizer-S applications usually range from 1 to 4 g S m-2 for grasses including rice (Coleman 1966;Wang 1979;Freney et al 1982). When sulfur was applied at the rate of 25% of total nitrogen in the previous season, high rice yields could be achieved with the residual sulfur (Ahmed et al 1989).…”

“…Inherently sulfur-deficient soils are widely distributed in the world and the deficiency is common in many upland crops (e.g., 10rdan and Ensminger 1958;McClung et al 1959;Freney et al 1962;Bolle-Jones 1964;Coleman 1966;Blair et al 1980). Sulfur deficiency occurs less frequently in rice plants (Oryza sativa), since the majority of them are grown in lowland alluvial soils where the availability of many plant nutrients is higher than in free-draining upland soils.…”

Metal-Induced Sulfate Adsorption by Soils

“…In recent years, there has been an increase in S deficiency in soils for several reasons (Coleman, 1966;Haque and Walmsly, 1974b): (1) the increased use of fertilizers that are low in S; (2) the lower amount of sulfur dioxide (SOg) emissions from powerplants and industries; (3) the decreased use of S containing fungicides and pesticides; (4) the higher crop yields and thus, the greater demand for all nutrients; (5) decreased levels of organic matter due to less use of organic manures; and (6) cropping on poor soils where S can be a limiting factor for plant growth. The plant availability of SO/' in soils is controlled by the factors that affect the adsorption capacity of the soils (such as SO/" concentration, solution pH, hydrous Fe and A1 oxides, type and amount of clay minerals, and competing anions), soil texture, rainfall, drainage characteristics, and the mineralization-immobilization relationships (Stevenson, 1986;Tabatabai, 1987).…”