Contents:
- Meaning of Pollination
- Fertilizer
- Pollination
Pollination is the process by which pollen is transferred from the anther (male part) to the stigma (female part) of the plant, thereby enabling fertilization and reproduction. This takes place in the angiosperms and flower-bearing plants.
What is the function of pollination?
Like humans, many plants require a male element and a female element to “breed” or produce a new seed. The difference is that plants possess both the male element and the female element in the same flower. The male is the anther which produces a powder or dust called pollen and the female is called pistil which produces eggs. At the base of the female part pistil, there is the sweet nectar that pollinators like bees love. We need bats, beetles, birds, wasps, moths, butterflies, flies, and our beloved bees to produce 90% of the crops that flourish and one-third of everything we plant to eat.
Pollinators go from flower to flower in search of more sugar. The pollen must find its way down to a pistil to reach the egg to make a new seed.
The function of pollination is to make seeds!
Fertilizer
Fertilizers enhance the growth of plants. This goal is met in two ways, the traditional one being additives that provide nutrients. The second mode by which some fertilizers act is to enhance the effectiveness of the soil by modifying its water retention and aeration. This article, like most on fertilizers, emphasizes the nutritional aspect. Fertilizers typically provide, in varying proportions
three main macronutrients: nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), potassium (K);
three secondary macronutrients: calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg), and sulfur (S);
Micronutrients: copper (Cu), iron (Fe), manganese (Mn), molybdenum (Mo), zinc (Zn), boron (B), and of occasional significance there are silicon (Si), cobalt (Co), and vanadium (V) plus rare mineral catalysts.
Fertilizers enhance the growth of plants. This goal is met in two ways, the traditional one being additives that provide nutrients. The second mode by which some fertilizers act is to enhance the effectiveness of the soil by modifying its water retention and aeration properties. This article, like most on fertilizers, emphasizes the nutritional aspect fertilizers typically provide, in varying proportions.
ASSESSMENT
- What are the three main macronutrients in fertilizer?
- Name three micronutrients
- What is pollination?
- State two functions of fertilizers?
- What is the main function of pollination