A method of estimating root efficiency.
Abstract
A method of estimating root efficiency or specific absorption rate, A, in terms of the amount of mineral nutrient taken up per unit root per unit time is described. Smooth lines or curves are fitted to data derived from successive measurements of root growth and plant nutrient content and a single equation is produced which describes the relationship between A and time over the whole growth period. The method is shown to be an improvement upon an older method of estimating specific absorption rate which derives A not continuously, but on a harvest-to-harvest basis and which appears to be less reliable in establishing changes in A with time or differences in A between treatments.