Potassium in agriculture

Sparks DL (ed) (1986) Soil physical chemistry. CRC Press, Boca Raton, Florida Sparks DL (1989) Kinetics of soil processes. Academic Press, San Diego Sparks DL, Huang PM (1985) Physical chemistry of soil potassium. In Munson RE (ed) Potassium in agriculture, ASA, Madison, Wisconsin, pp 201-276 Sparks DL, Jardine PM (1984) Comparison of kinetic equations to describe K-Ca exchange in pure and mixed systems. Soil Sci 138 115-122 Spencer WF, Cliath MM (1969) Vapor densities of dieldrin. Environ Sd Technol 3 670-674 Spencer WF, Chath MM (1973) Pesticide volatilization as related to water loss from soil. J Environ Qual 2 284-289... 

Rich, C. I. 1968. Mineralogy of soil potassium. In V. J. Kilmer, S. E. Younts, andN. C. Brady, Eds. The Role of Soil Potassium in Agriculture, American Society of Agronomy, Madison, WI, pp. 79-96. 

Adams, S.S., 1968. Potassium reserves in the world. In V.J. Kilmer, S.E. Younts, and N.C. Brady (Editors). The Role of Potassium in Agriculture. The American Society of Agronomy, Madison, Wisconsin, pp. 1—19. 

Justus von Liebig (1842) introduced the fertilization of nitrogen and potassium in agriculture, and improved in this way the iodine supply of animals and man in Europe. This was effected in particular in Germany by the importation of Chile saltpeter, which contained up iodine at up to 1 g kg" ... 

Munson, R. D. 1980. Potassium Awiilability and Uptake, Potassium in Agriculture, Potash and Phosphate Institute, pp. 67-108. 

De Datta, S. K. 1985. Nutrient Requirement for Sustained High Yields of Rice and Other Cereals, Proceedings of Colloquium Potassium in Agricultural Systems of the Humid Tropics, pp. 97-120, International Potash Institute, Switzerland. 

The major use of potassium sulfates is in agriculture as a fertilizer (97%). The other 3% is used in industry. Potassium sulfate accounts for about 5% of the potash industry. It is twice as expensive as potassium chloride and is only used as potash fertilizer where it performs better than potassium chloride. 

Gehrke, C.W., Ussary, J.P. and Kramer, G.H. Jr (1 964) Automation of the AOAC flame photometric method for potassium in fertilizers. Journal of the Association of Official Agricultural Chemists 47, 459 69. 

Potassium sulfate is used in fertilizers as a source of potassium and sulfur, both of which are essential elements for plant growth. Either in simple form or as a double salt with magnesium sulfate, potassium sulfate is one of the most widely consumed potassium salts in agricultural apphcations. It is preferred over potassium chloride for certain types of crops such as, tobacco, citrus, and other chloride—sensitive crops. Some other applications include making gypsum cements to make potassium alum in the analysis of Kjeldahl nitrogen and in medicine. 

Uses Of the Stassfurt salts.—The magnesium compounds in the Stassfurt salts are used for the preparation of magnesium and of its salts. The potash salts are an essential constituent of many fertilizers used in agriculture, etc. 22 and potassium chloride is the starting-point for the manufacture of the many different kinds of potassium salts used in commerce—carbonate, hydroxide, nitrate, chlorate, chromate, alum, ferrocyanide, cyanide, iodide, bromide, etc. Chlorine and bromine are extracted by electrolysis and other processes from the mother liquids obtained in the purification of the potash salts. Boric acid and borax are prepared from boracite. Caesium and rubidium are recovered from the crude carnallite and sylvite. 

Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1973) The Analysis of Agricultural Materials - Potassium in Plant Material, Method 67, Technical Bulletin RB 427, HMSO, London, UK. 

The third most widely used potassium salt in agriculture is potassium nitrate (KN03). An ore containing sodium nitrate, potassium nitrate, some chlorides, and sulfates is mined in Chile. The ore is leached and part of the sodium nitrate is crystallized and removed. 

Sodium nitrate is a very deliquescent substance,15 and is therefore unsuited for the manufacture of explosives. It is employed in agriculture as a fertilizer, and by double decomposition with potassium chloride yields potassium nitrate. Large quantities are reduced to... 

Potassium salts other than KCl are used to some extent in agriculture. Agricultural K2SO4 is used on Cl-sensitive crops and is produced by five different methods. The production of K2SO4 from the double salt, langbeinite (K2SO4 2MgS04), is based on the reaction ... 

The concentration of potassium in sea water amounts to 0.38 g/1. The element is essential to plant growth and a necessary component of a balanced agricultural fertilizer. Potassium salts widely produced from brines are major constituents of the concentrated brines after sodium chloride has been removed through evaporation. Fractional crystallization usually results in recovery of potassium in the form of... 

Similarly, in hospitals, chemical analysis can also assist in the diagnosis of illness and can be used to monitor the conditions of patients and assist medical personnel. In agriculture, monitoring the level of fertilisers through their elements for benefiting or non-benefiting effects, e.g. phosphorous, potassium, transition elements, etc., is also important and analytical science plays a decisive role here. 

Bashkin, V. N. (1984). Study of landscape-agrogeochemical balance of nutrients in agricultural regions pt.ll. Potassium. Water, Air and Soil Pollution, 21, 97-103... 

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