Nitrogen is essential for plants to make proteins. Plants cannot directly utilize the nitrogen available in the atmosphere. They require nitrogen in the soluble form.
How is atmospheric nitrogen supplied to plants in the soluble form without the use of fertilizers?
A bacterium called Rhizobium plays an important role in this process.
Rhizobium converts atmospheric nitrogen into the soluble form, which can then be taken in by plants. However, since Rhizobium cannot prepare its own food, it establishes itself in the roots of other plants and provides them with nutrients. Plants, in turn, provide the bacterium with food and shelter. Thus, there exists a symbiotic relationship between the bacterium and plants.
Rhizobium lives in the roots of gram, peas, moong, beans, and other leguminous plants. It is not present in the roots of all plants.
Do you know why farmers plant leguminous plants along with other crops in their fields?
Leguminous plants enrich the soil by fixing atmospheric nitrogen with the help of Rhizobium bacterium, which is present in their roots. They also help in reducing the use of fertilizers in the soil. It is for this reason farmers plant leguminous plant along with other crops in their fields.
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