ABSTRACT
The adequate supply of nutrients contributes significantly to increasing crop produtivity as well as cost of production. In this situation, optimizing nutrient use efficiency is fundamental for higher crop productivity and reduced cost of production. Several factors such as climate, soil, plant, and their interactions affect nutrient absorption and utilization by crop plants. To obtain maximum nutrient use efficiency, all these factors should be at an optimum level during crop development. A review of factors affecting nutrient use efficiency demonstrates a large potential to improve nutrient use efficiency by adequate management of cropping system components.
Key words:
annual crops; nutrient absorption and utilization; root length; genetic variability