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Hindawi Publishing CorporationInternational Journal of AgronomyVolume 2013 Article ID 156520 9 pageshttpdxdoiorg1011552013156520

Research ArticleAnalysis of Essential Elements for Plants Growth UsingInstrumental Neutron Activation Analysis

R L Njinga1 M N Moyo2 and S Y Abdulmaliq3

1 Department of Physics Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida University Lapai Niger State Nigeria2Head of Unit for Dosimetry National Radiation and Protection Agency Bastos Yaounde Cameroon3Department of Crop Production Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida University Lapai Niger State Nigeria

Correspondence should be addressed to R L Njinga njingaraymondyahoocouk

Received 28 July 2013 Revised 15 August 2013 Accepted 17 August 2013

Academic Editor Othmane Merah

Copyright copy 2013 R L Njinga et al This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution Licensewhich permits unrestricted use distribution and reproduction in any medium provided the original work is properly cited

In this study a total of ten essential elements for plants growth in the Guinea savanna region of Niger State in Northern Nigeriahave been identified in the soils using instrumental neutron activation analysisThe experimental results show good agreement withcertified or literature values within the agreed percentage range of plusmn235 to plusmn869 However the concentration distributions ofthe ten identified elements in the soil samples within the studied area for plants growth revealed the following Fe (1234 ppm) Mn(21007 ppm) K (55443 ppm) Al (547524 ppm) Ti (30829 ppm) Ca (4635 ppm) V (543 ppm)Na (8575 ppm)Mg (139241 ppm)and Dy (121 ppm) A further analysis of the two fundamental soil physical parameters for healthy growth of some common cropslike egusimelon groundnut rice yams soybeans cassava and potato analyzed in this work revealed a pH range of 40 pHndash80 pHand a temperature range of 280∘C to 293∘C which are optimal for plant nutrients availability in the soils within the study area

1 Introduction

Plants require at least sixteen elements for normal growthand completion of their life cycle They need relatively largeamount of nitrogen phosphorus and potassium referred toas primary nutrients usually supplied in fertilizers [1] Thethree secondary elements CaMg and S are virtually requiredin smaller amounts Ca and Mg are usually supplied withlimingmaterials while Swith fertilizermaterials [2] Contam-inants in rainfall also supply 45 kg to 91 kg of nitrogen andsulphur per acre each year depending on the local air quality[3]

The micronutrients consist of seven essential elementswhich are boron copper chlorine iron manganese molyb-denum and zincThese elements occur in very small amountsin both soil and plants but their role is as important as theprimary nutrients [4 5] A deficiency of one or more ofthe micronutrients can lead to severe depression in growthyield and crop quality Some soils do not contain sufficientamounts of these nutrients tomeet the plantrsquos requirement forrapid growth and good production In this case supplementalmicronutrients for rapid growth and good yield have to be

applied in the form of foliar sprays with adequate knowledgeof the elemental concentrations Thus this work seeks toanalysze the essential elements for plants growth using instru-mental neutron activation analysis in seven local governmentareas (LGAs) of Niger state namely Paikoro Lapai MokwaKatcha Bida Agaie and Suleja local government areas ofNiger State

Plants absorb the essential elements through their rootsystems or their leaves in various forms [1] In general soilcontains large amounts of all the elements but only a verysmall percentage of these total amounts are actually useful forplant growth [6] This is viewed in the case of iron contentexceeding 50000 ppm and the portion available to plants isless than 5 ppm [7] The availability of nutrients to plants inthe form shown inTable 1 greatly relates to the chemical prop-erties of the element the soil pH interactions with soil col-loids and soil physical conditions such as temperature andmoisture [8]

The soil solution holds most nutrients in the ionic formsindicated in Table 1 in proportion to the amounts held on thesoil [9] Plants absorb both cations and anions from the soil

2 International Journal of Agronomy

Table 1 Primary forms of some nutrients intake by plants

Elements Symbols Forms used by plantsNitrogen N NH4

+ and NO3minus

Phosphorus P HPO42minus and H2PO4

minus

Potassium K K+

Calcium Ca Ca2+

Magnesium Mg Mg2+

Iron Fe Fe2+ and Fe3+

Manganese Mn Mn2+

Zinc Zn Zn2+

Copper Cu Cu2+

Molybdenum Mo MoO42minus

Nickel Ni Ni2+

Sodium Na Na+

solution in an equilibrium rate often referred to as bufferingprocess A detail about this process is discussed in [1]

However the soil supplies thirteen of the fifteen elementsrequired for nutrition of higher plants which must be avail-able continuously and in balanced proportions to supportphotosynthesis and other metabolic processes of plantsThe Guinea Savannah zones of Niger State as indicated inFigure 1 are of iron-rich ferralitic and ferruginous soil types[10 11]

The major soil types that favour agroecological devel-opment include Alfisols Inceptisols Entisols and VertisolsAlfisols is the most common in the Guinea Savannah regionAs derived from pre-Cambrian crystalline basement com-plex leached and slightly acid soils with pH between 50 and70 are commonly found in the Guinea Savannah zones [11]Over the years the Nigeria Savannah soils have been investi-gated severally by [2 10 11] in the areas of morphology andthe survival of cereals and other crops under drought con-ditions However the characteristics and management of theproblems associated with the soils of the Nigerian Savannahfocusing on the morphological properties particle size andchemical properties have been studied and published [12]Some works have been carried out in the areas of major andminor trace element analyses in aquatic and terrestrial envi-ronments such as sediments rocks and soils [13ndash15] Also[16] investigated sulphur in Northern Nigeria soils while [17]equally studying the Alfisols of the Savannah only on oneelement (Iron) However the assessment of soil fertilityrestoration under fallow in Nigerian Savannah included soilproperty organic matter and few inorganic elements hasbeen performed by [2] The Guinea Savannah soil types aresusceptible to erosion because of their sandy nature [11] It isfor this reason that soil amendment processes mostly fertil-izer applications andmanuring have been constantly appliedto the Guinea Savannah zones However such agrarian inter-ventions may not be self-assigned if the soil micro- andmacronutrients in the form of trace elements are not known

11Theory ofNeutronActivationAnalysis Neutron activationanalysis referred to as an analyticalmethodwas introduced by

Marginal savannaShort grass savannaWoodland and tall grass savannaRain forest

Fresh water swampMangroveMontane

Figure 1 Sampling zoned according to the vegetation types inNigeria

Harvesy and Levi in 1936 [18] De Soete et al [19] followed thedevelopment of themethod from its inception and gave an in-depth account of the various aspects Between 1980s and 90sseveral publications on the refined theory and techniques ofneutron activation analysis (NAA) have been released [20ndash26] The sensitivity of the method has been described in sev-eral places with the recent review being that of [24] and can beconsidered to be about ppb level for reactor irradiations Thesensitivity is a function of nuclear parameters of the elementin question neutron cross section isotope abundance half-life gamma-ray abundance available neutron flux length ofirradiation detector efficiency matrix composition and thetotal sample size

In the determination of activated trace elements theselectivity of the NAA method shows striking properties ofcertainty and versatility [27] Apart from measurements ofthe half-life and the type of energy of the produced isotopesprecisely the ratio of the activity of the isotope of interest tothe interfering activities can be enhanced by changing irradi-ations and decay time before counting Changing the neutronspectrum has also been shown [19] to minimize interferencesdue to fast neutron-induced reactions by choosing an irradi-ation site in the reactor with a pure thermal flux NAA has alead over other methods because of the possibility of simul-taneous assaying of a majority of elements in representativemass of substance with considerable sensitivity as comparedto other conventional techniques which require special sam-ple preparation procedures before analysis [28]

In reactor instrumental neutron activation analysisdecomposition and radiochemical separation of the radioac-tive sample are shown [19] not to be necessary All problemsrelated to the decomposition of the sample and separation(dissolution contamination and losses) are avoided Theradionuclides are determined nondestructively on the basis

International Journal of Agronomy 3

of the differences in their decay rates via measurements atdifferent decay intervals using high-resolution detectors Itdoes not require complicated handling as well This aspect isvery important when analyzing essential elements for plantsgrowth or in the case of materials that are difficult to dis-solve for example silicon-based samples or ceramics Betterdetection limits of desired elements can be achieved by opti-mizing irradiation parameters (energy rate of the neutronsirradiation time and decay and counting times) The influ-ence of the matrix is usually negligible since most matricesappear to be transparent Most samples are composed of HC O N P and Si and hardly form any radioactive isotopesThis makes the method highly sensitive for measuring traceelements with low detection limits

In the relative standardization method of NAA employedin this work the concentration of an element in the unknownsample was calculated by irradiating the unknown sampleand a standard containing a known amount of the elementof interest together in the reactor If the unknown sample andthe standard are both measured on the same detector and thedecay and irradiation times between the two are correctedthe mass of the element in the unknown will be calculatedby using the half-life of the measured isotope The equationcom-monly used to calculate the mass of an element in theunknown sample relative to the standard is

119860 sam119860 std=119898sam119898std

(119890minus120582119879119889)sam

(119890minus120582119879119889)std

(1)

where119860 is induced activity of the sample (sam) and standard(std)119898 is mass of the element 120582 is decay constant for the iso-tope and 119879

119889is decay time

For a stable reactor flux and when performing short irra-diations the irradiation decay and counting times are nor-mally fixed for all samples and standards such that the time-dependent factors canceled out Thus (1) is simplified

119862sam = 119862std119882sam119882std

119860 sam119860 std (2)

where 119862 is concentration of the element and119882 is weight ofthe sample and standard

The neutron activation technique through its nuclearcharacter allows the analysis of a wide variety of elementsin widely differing matrices making it a powerful analyticaltool not only in trace analysis but also in determiningalloy elements and minor constituents [29] As a powerfulanalytical technique it has applications in a broad range ofdisciplines such as plant nutrients archeology environmentalmonitoring geology human sample analysis and materialsscience [30]

A major advantage in the INAA of nutrients for plantsgrowth matrices is that the matrix elements C H N and Oproduce negligible 120574-ray activity to interfere with the deter-mination of trace elements The 13C (119899 120574) 14C and 2H (119899 120574)3H reactions produce very small activities of the non-120574 emit-ters 3Hand 14C and the 18O(119899 120574) 19Oand 15N(119899 120574) 16Nreac-tions give very short-lived 19O (27 sec) and 16N (71 sec) All ofthese reactions have extremely low thermal neutron cross

sections However the high concentration of P in many bio-logical tissues (eg bone) reduces the detestability of some 120574-emitters because 32P from the 31P (119899 120574) 32P reaction althoughnot a 120574-emitter gives a bremsstrahlung continuum in the0ndash17MeV region of the 120574-ray spectrum Similarly traces ofNa K and C1 in plant samples may produce high activities of24Na (15 h) 42K (12 h) and 38Cl (37min) [31]

The basic principle of INAA is neutron-induced reactionswhich is preceded by the interaction of neutron with a targetnucleus via a nonelastic collision and forming a compoundnucleus in an excited state The excitation energy of the com-pound nucleus is due to the binding energy of the neutronwith the nucleus The compound nucleus will almost instan-taneously deexcite into a more stable configuration throughemission of one or more characteristic prompt gamma raysIn many cases this new configuration yields a radioactivenucleus which also deexcites (or decays) by emission of oneor more characteristic delayed gamma-rays but at a muchslower rate according to the unique half-life of the radioactivenucleus Depending upon the particular radioactive specieshalf-lives can range from fractions of a second to severalyears With respect to the time of measurement NAA fallsinto two categories prompt gamma-ray neutron activationanalysis (PGNAA) where measurements take place duringirradiation and delayed gamma-ray neutron activation anal-ysis (DGNAA) where the measurements follow radioactivedecay The latter operational mode is more common thuswhen one mentions NAA it is generally assumed that mea-surement of the delayed gamma rays is intended About 70of the elements have properties suitable for measurement byNAA

The basic equation that will be employed for the calcula-tion of the essential elements for plant growth after irradia-tion of the soil samples with the miniature research reactorwith the account of decayed 120574-rays in NAA is

119860

119883+1

0

119899 997888rarr119860+1

119883 + 120574 (3)

NAA utilizes the fact that the number of atoms of theradioisotopes produced 119860+1119883 depends on the cross section ofthe neutron-nuclide reaction duration of irradiation and thehalf-life of the radioisotope producedThe activity evaluationafter irradiation of the soil samples is based on the equationgiven as

119860 = 119873120590120593 (1 minus 119890minus120582119905119894) (4)

where119873 is number of target atoms 120590 is cross section120593 is fluxparameter 119905

119894is irradiation time and 120582 is decay constant

The term (1minus119890minus120582119905119894) in (4) is called the saturation faction Itapproaches unity when the rate of formation of the radioiso-topes is equal to the rate of its decayThemeasured count rate119877of the 120574-rays from the decay of a specific isotope 119860+1119883 in theirradiated soil samples is related to the amounts of the originalstable isotope 119860119883 in the sample through

119860 = 120576119868120574119873120590120593 (1 minus 119890

minus120582119905119894) 119890minus120582119905119889 (5)

where 120576 is efficiency of the detector used and 119868120574is absolute

gamma ray abundance


2 Soil Sampling

The surfaces were scraped to remove smeared soil This wasnecessary to minimize the effects of contaminant migrationinterferences due to smearing of material from other levelsHand augers with 4-inch stainless steel auger buckets withcutting heads of diameter of 10 cm advanced by simultane-ously pushing and turning using an attached handle withextensions were used to advance boreholes and collection ofthe soil samples in the shallow subsurface intervals of 30 cmSoil samples of about 1 kg were collected and stored in apolythene container as shown in Table 2 The samples wereair-dried and roots and any other extraneous materials weremanually removed The samples were sealed in plastic bagsfor transport to the laboratory at the Centre for EnergyResearch and Training Ahmadu Bello University Zaria

The recordings of basic physical characteristics at eachsite were based on standard procedures About 20 g of thesoil samples from each of the samples obtained were weighedusing Mettler weighing balance and 40mL of distilled waterwere added at each point to form a solution The solutionswere stirred for 30 minutes to homogenize the mixture Atthis stage the soil pHs weremeasured usingMERCKpHuni-versal indicatorThe thermometer was also immersed in eachof the solutions in the seven LGAs for temperature readings

In CERT these samples were dry-sieved through a 2mmnylonmesh and a portionwet-sieved through a 150120583mmeshThe fractions were air-dried in Kraft paper bags at ambienttemperature and later on oven-dried at approximately 80∘Cfor 2 days ground homogenized and stored in nitric acidacidified distilled water-washed polyethylene containers

Digestion of soil samples was carried out usingNitric acid(69 purity) perchloric acid (65 purity) and hydrochloricacid (28 purity) Soil sample measuring 05000 plusmn 00002 gwas digested in a mixture of 10mL concentrated Nitric acid3mL perchloric acid and 2mL hydrochloric acid for 30minutes using microwave-accelerated reaction system

The digested soil samples were analyzed alongside stan-dard reference material (SRM) of the National Institute ofStandard and Technology (NIST 2709 San Joaquin Soil spe-cifically coal fly ash 1633b and the IAEA-soil-7 for QualityAssurance and Control)

3 Experimental Procedure

Each of the soil samples was crushed to fine powder bymeans of pulverized and immediately packaged into plasticcontainersThese samples were tightly sealed by smearing theinner rims of each container lid with Vaseline wax and the lidassembled gap with candle wax before applying maskingadhesive tape These samples were then stored for a durationof 35 days for attainment of secular equilibriumThe irradia-tion procedures were performed based on both short half-liferadionuclides and long half-life radionuclides

31 Irradiation Protocols For the short half-lives radionu-clides all the samples with equal amount and matrix textureof coal fly ash 1633b (NIST) standards reference materials(SRM) and IAEA Soil-7 with the weights of 150mgndash250mg

Table 2 Sampling sites with horizontal depth

Local government areain Niger State

Laboratoryidentification Vertical depth

Paikoro 1 PAI-C1 30 cmPaikoro 2 PAI-C2 30 cmLapai 1 LAP-E1 30 cmLapai 2 LAP-E2 30 cmMokwa 1 MOK-J1 30 cmMokwa 2 MOK-J2 30 cmKatcha 1 KAT-K1 30 cmKatcha 2 KAT-K2 30 cmBida 1 BID-L1 30 cmBida 2 BID-L2 30 cmAgaie 1 AGA-AE1 30 cmAgaie 2 AGA-AE2 30 cmSuleja 1 SUL-IE1 30 cmSuleja 2 SUL-IE2 30 cmThe numbers 1 and 2 indicate two random locations within a local govern-ment area

were irradiated for two minutes in the outer channel (B4)which is away from the reactor core at a neutron flux settingof 25 times 1011 ncm2sec For long half-lives radionuclides thesamples with the weights of 150mgndash250mg together withsome SRM were irradiated for six hours in the inner channel(B2) which is close to the core of the nuclear research reactorat a neutron flux setting of 50 times 1011 ncm2sec

After irradiation the samples and standard were ejectedfrom the reactor via the pneumatic transfer process andallowed to decay to an appropriate dead time In the case ofthe short irradiated samples the short half-lives elements ofinterestAl CaMg Ti VMnDyNaK andClwere obtainedbased on two protocols

(i) First short-count was performed immediately afterirradiation and each of the samples and standardswere counted for five minutes using high purity ger-manium (HPGe) detector

(ii) The second short-count was done after a decay periodof two hours after irradiation and the counting ofgamma-rays in form of energies was performed usingHPGe detector for 2 to 3 hrs for SRM and all the othersamples

In the case of the long irradiated samples two protocols wereestablished in order to obtain any of the following elementsAs Br La Sm Yb U Sc Cr Fe Co Zn Se Rb Cs Ba Eu LuHf Ta Sb and Tb

(i) The first stages of counting were done after 4 to 5 daysof decay and both types of samples (SRM and all theother samples) counted for 10 minutes

(ii) The second stage of the counting was performed afternine days for each type that is SRM and all the othersamples counted for sixty minutes


Table 3 Physical soil parameters in the sampling sites

Local government area in Niger State Laboratory identification pH values Nature of soil Temperature ∘CPaikoro 1 PAI-C1 68 Slightly acidic soil 2900Paikoro 2 PAI-C2 71 Slightly alkaline soil 2890Lapai 1 LAP-E1 66 Slightly acidic soil 2880Lapai 2 LAP-E2 62 Slightly acidic soil 2887Mokwa 1 MOK-J1 62 Slightly acidic soil 2868Mokwa 2 MOK-J2 62 Slightly acidic soil 2850Katcha 1 KAT-K1 67 Slightly acidic soil 2867Katcha 2 KAT-K2 68 Slightly acidic soil 2830Bida 1 BID-L1 67 Slightly acidic soil 2870Bida 2 BID-L2 65 Slightly acidic soil 2822Agaie 1 AGA-AE1 73 Slightly alkaline soil 2835Agaie 2 AGA-AE2 64 Slightly acidic soil 2818Suleja 1 SUL-IE1 62 Slightly acidic soil 2980Suleja 2 SUL-IE2 65 Slightly acidic soil 2910

Table 4 Quality control data for coal fly ash 1633b (NIST) and IAEA-soil-7 reference material

Elements Coal fly ash 1633b PDC values IAEA-soil-7 PDC valuesThis work Certified values This work Certified values

Dy () 1810 1700 minus647 mdash mdash mdashNa () 021 020 minus500 026 024 minus833

Mg () 089 049 minus8089 068 113 3982Al () 146 1505 299 494 470 minus511

Ca () 141 151 662 031 030 minus333

Ti () 074 079 633 1611 1630 116K () 180 195 769 123 121 minus165

V (ppm) 28000 29560 528 6940 6600 minus515

Mn (ppm) 12870 13180 235 64700 63100 minus254

All the above-mentioned counting procedures were carriedout based on Table 3 in a separate set-up with the gamma-rayHPGe detector and Pd-shield to ensure safety of the analystand the associated electronic components The gamma-raysfrom the samples were measured using the HPGe detectorThe multipurpose gamma ray analysis software WINSPAN2004 [32] versionwas used for the peak identification spectraanalysis and quantification of the elements present

The detector was calibrated in energy certified radioac-tive sources 137Cs emitting gamma-ray energy of 662KeVand 60Co emitting two gamma-rays at 1172 and 13325 keVEfficiency curve for the gamma-ray high purity germanium(HPGe) detector (ORTEC) model number ldquoGEM-30195rdquohas been developed and published [33]

4 Results and Discussion

From the temperature distributions and pH values in Table 3it is show that the plant nutrients within these sites are opti-mum for proper growthThis is so because the pHvalue rangefor proper plants growth is 55 and 70 However PAI-C2(Paikoro2) and AGA-AE1 (Agaie1) were exceptional with pHvalues of 71 and 73 respectively showing alkaline soils prop-erties

Quality control data is the process of controlling the usageof data with known quality measurement for an applicationor a process This is achieved when data quality assuranceprocess which is the evaluation of data inconsistency orcorrections has been performed Based on the results shownin Table 4 the percentage deviation from the certified (PDC)referencematerials coal fly ash 1633b and IAEA-soil-7 showedan agreed percentage range ofplusmn235 toplusmn869 except in thecase ofMgwith a deviation of minus80 for coal fly ash 1633b and3982 for IAEA-soil-7 This result is very obvious because ofthe two nuclear reactions 27Al (119899 119901) 27Mg and 26Mg (119899 120574)27Mg This error was corrected by measuring the reactioncontribution from the (119899 119901) due to 27Al and subtracting thesame from (119899 120574) reaction due to 26Mg

From the quality assurance data analysis proceduresthe elemental concentrations of the soil samples obtainedrandomly within two strategic farming locations in PaikoroLapai Mokwa Katcha Bida Agaie and Suleja local govern-ment areas in Niger State Nigeria are shown in Table 5

In order to adequately analyze these elemental concentra-tions of the seven LGAs the average values of each of the nineelements in Table 5 were transformed into Table 6 wherethe average values of each of the ten elements from the twosampling locations in each LGA are evaluated


Table 5 Elemental concentration in the soil samples for plants growth

Sampling sites Mn K Fe Al Ti Ca V Na Mg DyPaikoro 1 1924 plusmn 02 3170 plusmn 06 188 plusmn 03 7920 plusmn 07 2430 plusmn 08 2750 plusmn 01 174 plusmn 07 205 plusmn 02 996 plusmn 05 327 plusmn 05

Paikoro 2 1521 plusmn 03 4220 plusmn 05 204 plusmn 01 9200 plusmn 02 2000 plusmn 02 3520 plusmn 05 205 plusmn 02 2154 plusmn 08 3080 plusmn 01 499 plusmn 02

Lapai 1 1306 plusmn 01 7780 plusmn 04 21823 plusmn 02 134114 plusmn 05 3360 plusmn 05 5180 plusmn 02 849 plusmn 05 3471 plusmn 05 12100 plusmn 06 1356 plusmn 06


Mokwa 1 279 plusmn 02 10020 plusmn 05 2214 plusmn 09 60100 plusmn 04 3660 plusmn 06 7920 plusmn 09 9199 plusmn 09 6358 plusmn 09 2460 plusmn 06 158 plusmn 01


Katcha 1 3390 plusmn 02 5130 plusmn 04 4121 plusmn 04 44200 plusmn 07 3720 plusmn 02 1520 plusmn 05 455 plusmn 05 415 plusmn 03 20700 plusmn 07 161 plusmn 02


Bida 1 6270 plusmn 04 3580 plusmn 05 67 plusmn 04 29600 plusmn 03 1750 plusmn 07 4410 plusmn 03 248 plusmn 08 394 plusmn 08 8460 plusmn 05 2888 plusmn 06


Agaie 1 699 plusmn 09 6900 plusmn 05 11 plusmn 02 24600 plusmn 02 4700 plusmn 08 3770 plusmn 06 295 plusmn 02 344 plusmn 02 92800 plusmn 03 88 plusmn 02


Suleja 1 313 plusmn 03 6960 plusmn 05 17 plusmn 06 71200 plusmn 03 3850 plusmn 03 4280 plusmn 09 821 plusmn 08 5661 plusmn 04 3570 plusmn 07 58 plusmn 06


Table 6 Average elemental concentration per LGA

Sampling sites Mn K Fe Al Ti Ca V Na Mg DyPaikoro (Av) 17225 3695 1961 8560 2215 3135 1895 2102 2038 413Lapai (Av) 10224 8020 16267 131057 3175 5175 79 28245 125055 1372Mokwa (Av) 2989 8145 21042 62950 3415 9810 96345 48025 2015 165Katcha (Av) 3845 4355 36197 47950 2830 1720 51 3945 20050 141Bida (Av) 6755 2830 8311 30700 2075 2775 253 374 9430 3439Agaie (Av) 6485 6990 1051 32000 4380 5490 2055 800 48185 828Suleja (Av) 413 4775 1551 70050 3490 4340 89 33505 3245 6005Mean value 21008 55443 1234 547524 30829 4635 543 8575 139241 121Av stands for average valuesConcentrations are measured in ppm

Iron in soil exists in the ferrous (Fe++) and ferric (Fe+++)forms [34] The Guinea Savannah zones of Niger State areof iron-rich ferralitic and ferruginous soil types Ferric ironcompounds have low solubility in the soil solution and con-ditions that favour formation of these compounds decreaseiron availabilityThe soil pH values for the seven LGAs rangedfrom 62 to 73 which invariably reduces the iron concentra-tionsThis was the case observed in Suleja with theminimumaverage value of Fe concentration of 15 51 ppm in Agaie withminimum value of 1051 ppm and in Paikora with minimumvalue of 1961 ppmThepHvalues of the two random locationsof these three LGAswere 62 and 65 for Suleja 1 and 2 64 and73 for Agaie 1 and 2 and 68 and 71 for Paikoro 1 and 2 Basedon the iron plant-analysis interpretations for some commonGuinea Savannah crops in Table 7 the average results shownin Table 6 indicate that the Fe content in Paikoro is 1961 ppmThis interpretation in terms of soybeans and cassava isdeficient and sufficient for potato as depicted in Table 7 ForKachawith average value of 36197 ppm Fe content is high forall the crops listed in Table 7 For the remaining LGAs LapaiMokwa and Bida the Fe concentrations are sufficient for thecrops listed in Table 7 However the distribution from the Fe-bar in Figure 2 shows that the percentage distributions of Fein Mokwa and Lapai were approximately 20 while in Kachais 40 In Paikoro and Suleja the distribution is 2 andAgaieis 15

The probable variation of Fe in the soil samples analyzedmay be due to the types of crops cultivated and farmingsystem practiced in the regions where the samples werecollected Niger State is a Savannah region where crops aregrownwith their root within 10 to 30 cm in depth for the plantnutrients [35] Another reason may be due to the land fallowsystem [2] that is practicedwithin the seven local governmentareas allowing the soil to replenish its nutrients after somefallow timeThe result of this analysis shows that the concen-trations of these ten elements are within the expected rangefor soils [1] The ten elements in Tables 5 and 6 were catego-rized according to major minor and trace levels The majorelements include magnesium aluminum calcium titaniumand potassium while sodium and manganese are in minorlevel and dysprosium in trace level

The average concentration of aluminum in Table 6 rangesfrom 8560 ppm in Paikoro (2) to 131057 ppm in Lapai (32)and was generally high across the soil samples that were ana-lyzed in the seven local government areas in Niger State Fac-tors such as bush burning and excessive clearing of field mayhave contributed to the overall concentration of Al in the soilmatrix Although the physiological function of Al in plants isnot clear it is evident that high levels of Al can have a negativeeffect on plant growth especially in non-Al-tolerant plantspecies like wheat


Table 7 Iron plant-analysis interpretations for common Guinea Savannah crops [34]

Crop Deficient Low Sufficient HighSoybeans lt30 ppm 30ndash50 ppm 51ndash350 ppm gt350 ppmMaize lt10 ppm 10ndash50 ppm 51ndash250 ppm gt250 ppmPotato mdash lt11 ppm 11ndash300 ppm gt300 ppmGroundnut lt10 ppm 10ndash50 ppm 51ndash250 ppm gt250 ppmCassava lt20 ppm 20ndash30 ppm 31ndash250 ppm gt250 ppm

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

Mn K Fe Al Ti Ca V Na Mg Dy

Dist

ribut

ion

in th

e sev

en L

GA

s (

)

Elemental concentrations in the seven LGAs

SulejaAgaieBidaKatcha

MokwaLapaiPaikoro

Figure 2 Elemental concentration of soil samples obtained in sevenlocal government areas in niger state

Manganese is a micronutrient whose concentration inplants enhances the growth of soybean groundnut cassavapotato egusimelon rice and maize [34] The concentrationrange of manganese within the 7 local government areaswas 20150 ppm inMokwa with a minimum percentage valueof 18 The maximum concentration of 50 equivalent toconcentration value of 125055 ppm was observed in LapaiThemean value of 138661 ppmwas observed across the sevenLGAs The average concentration range of sodium (Table 6)was observed in Paikoro LGA with a minimum percentagevalue of 22 equivalent to the concentration value of2102 ppm as shown in Figure 1 The maximum percentagevalue of 58 and concentration of 33505 ppmwere observedin Suleja LGAMeanwhile themean value of Na of 8575 ppmwas observed across the ten LGAs Na as a nutrient normallysupports crops cultivation like spinach obtained through itsroot of about 5 to 10 cm in depth and cash crops cultivatedwith their roots relatively deep inside the soil (sim60 cm down-ward) like cocoa kolanuts bitter kola and so forth obtainedwithin the sampling LGAs From the bar chart (Figure 1) thepercentage distributions of the average concentration of eachof the ten elements analyzed in the seven LGAs are shown oneach of the bars From the Mn-bar the percentage () distri-bution in each LGA shows that Mn was approximately 48

in Bida followed by 25 in Katcha and 7 in Lapai In Agaieand Mokwa it was 4 and 2 respectively Magnesiumintake by some oil seed like crops such as groundnut soyabean egusimelon beniseed is very essential These crops areseriously cultivated in Niger State and this work revealedthat within the seven LGAs of studies the mean value ofmagnesium was 139241 ppm which is relatively high Asshown in Tables 5 and 6 magnesium is observed to be evenlydistributed The average concentration of calcium in theseven LGAs ranges from 17200 ppm in Katcha to 98100 ppmin Mokwa The calcium concentration range required byplants [31] is between 01 and 02 ( = 1000 ppm) Howevercalcium shows relatively even distributions within the sevenLGAs because the enrichment factor such as dead animalsrsquobones that have decayed or burnt during bush burningexercise may invariably lead to increase in the calcium con-tent of the soils

Low concentration of vanadium is beneficial to microor-ganisms animals and higher plants [1] Increases in plantgrowth have been observed in rice and corn attributed tovanadium [7] A normal concentration of vanadium requiredfor plant growth is 20 parts per billion (ppb) whereas normalvanadium concentration in plant material averages about10 ppm [36] The concentration of vanadium within theseven LGAs was averagely low (543 ppm) and the range of116 ppm observed in Agaie LGA and a high average valueof 963 ppm were observe in Mokwa Also potassium isrequired by plant usually in the ranges of 10 to 40 [5] forproper plants functions including carbohydrate metabolismenzyme activation osmotic regulation and efficient use ofwater [36] The average concentration of potassium rangesfrom 36950 ppm in Paikoro to 81450 ppm in Mokwa LGAs

The average concentration of titanium obtained withinthe seven LGAs ranges from 20750 ppm in Bida to43800 ppm in Agaie However no clear evidence of a bio-chemical role of titanium has been reported Reference [37]described its possible catalytic function in nitrogen fixationby symbioticmicroorganisms and in photooxidation of nitro-gen compounds by higher plants and some processes of pho-tosynthesis Titanium is not an essential element for plantnutrition It was observed by [38] that there is an increase ofchlorophyll in tomato plants grown in culture solution afterspraying with Ti-chelate solution which is evidence for thebiochemical role of titanium in plants The average concen-tration of dysprosium obtained in the seven LGAS rangesfrom 1405 ppm in Katcha to 16500 ppm in Mokwa It hasbeen observed that the average range of concentration of dys-prosium in soil should be from 38 ppm to 5 ppm [9 39]

Dysprosium can therefore be described to be present intrace level Dysprosium is a member of the group of elements


referred to as rare elements Thus this mineral may notbe required for plant nutrition though it may be of otheruses to plant [40] Bida Mokwa and Lapai LGAs registeredan average value of dysprosium to be 3439 ppm 165 ppmand 1372 ppm respectively However low concentration ofdysprosium was observed in Katcha Paikoro Agaie andSuleja LGAs with values of 141 ppm 413 ppm 828 ppm and601 ppm respectively

5 Conclusion

A total of ten elements have been identified in the soils sam-ples as essential elements for plants growth in the seven LGAs(Paikoro Lapai Mokwa Katcha Bida Agaie and Suleja)in the Guinea Savanna region of Niger state in NorthernNigeria using instrumentation neutron activation analysisThe accuracy of measurements evaluated by analyzing coalfly ash 1633b SRM and IAEA Soil-7 compared well with thecertified values of the trace elements of interest identifiedTheexperimented results show good agreement with certifiedor literature values within the agreed percentage range ofplusmn235 to plusmn869 The study of the soil samples fromfarming locations in the seven LGAs has been analyzed foressential elements suitable for plants growth The averagevalues of Fe (1234 ppm) Mn (21007 ppm) K (55443 ppm)Al (547524 ppm) Ti (30829 ppm) Ca (4635 ppm) V(543 ppm) Na (8575 ppm) Mg (139241 ppm) and Dy(121 ppm) were obtained within the farming sites Howeverthe most common range of soil pH is 40ndash80 pH and therange for optimal availability of plant nutrients formost cropsis 65 to 70 pH while the temperature is 280∘C to 293∘C asobtained in this work These results indicate healthy growthof the common crops such as egusimelon groundnut riceyams soybeans cassava and potato vegetables grown withinthese LGAs

Acknowledgment

The authors acknowledged the Centre for Energy Researchand Training CERT Ahmadu Bello University Zaria Nige-ria for providing the nuclear reactor and its ancillary facilitiesused in this work

References

[1] S L TisdaleW L Nelson J D Beaton and J L Havlin Soil Fer-tility and Fertilizer Prentice Hall Upper Saddle River NJ USA5th edition 1993

[2] I A Jaiyeoba ldquoAn assessment of soil fertility restoration underfallow in Nigerian savannahrdquo Soil Use andManagement vol 13no 3 pp 163ndash164 1997

[3] C D Foy R L Chaney and M C White ldquoThe physiology ofmetal toxicity in plantsrdquoAnnual Review of Plant Physiology vol29 pp 511ndash566 1978

[4] V O Ajibola and R Rolawanu ldquoTrace elements in the environ-mentrdquo Journal of Scientific and Industrial Research vol 59 no 2pp 132ndash136 2000

[5] A Aubert and M Pinta ldquoTrace elements in soilsrdquo in Develop-ment in Soil Science vol 7 pp 43ndash95 Elsevier AmsterdamTheNetherlands 1977

[6] I O B Ewa and L A Dim ldquoMajor minor and trace elementdeterminations from a Nigerian aquatic sedimentrdquo Journal ofEnvironmental Science and Health vol 24 no 3 pp 243ndash2541989

[7] S C Hodges Soil Fertility Basics Soil Science Extension NorthCarolina State University Certified Crop Advisor Training 1995

[8] P A Sanchez and T J Logan ldquoMyths and scienceabout thechemistry and fertility of soils in the Tropicsrdquo inMyths and Sci-ence of Soils of the Tropics R Lal and P A Sanchez Eds pp 35ndash46 Soil Science Society of America Madison Wis USA 1992

[9] J L Ahlrichs ldquoThe soil environmentrdquo in Organic Chemicals inthe Soil Environment C A I Goring and J W Hamaker EdsMarcel Dekker New York NY USA 1972

[10] J O Adejuwan ldquoA biogeographical survey of the dynamics ofSavannah vegetation in Nigeriardquo Geographical Journal vol 14pp 31ndash48 1971

[11] I O B Ewa M O A Oladipo L A Dim and S P MallamldquoMajor minor and trace elements of the Samaru savannah soilin Nigeriardquo Journal of Trace and Microprobe Techniques vol 18no 3 pp 389ndash395 2000

[12] J C Menaut R Barbault P Lavelle and M Lepage ldquoAfricanSavannas biological systems ofhumification and mineraliza-tionrdquo in Ecology and Management of the Worldrsquos Savannas J CTothill and J J Mott Eds pp 14ndash33 Australian Academic Sci-ence Canberra Australia 1985


[14] V Y Borkhodoev ldquoX-ray fluorescence determination of rubid-ium strontium yttrium zirconiumandniobium in rocksrdquo Jour-nal of Trace and Microprobe Techniques vol 16 no 3 pp 341ndash352 1998

[15] O G Duliu L C Dinescu and D Skliros ldquoINAA study ofthe distribution of some major and trace elements in Greeklimestones and marblesrdquo Journal of Trace and Microprobe Tech-niques vol 17 no 2 pp 165ndash175 1999

[16] A R Bromfield ldquoSulphur in northern Nigerian soils the effectsof cultivation and fertilization on total socilsulpur and sulphatepattern in soil profilerdquo Journal of Agriculture Science vol 78 pp465ndash470 1972

[17] M E Mosugu V O Chude I E Esu T Kparmwang andW BMalgwi ldquoContents and profile distribution of three forms of freeiron oxides in three ultisols and an Alfisol in Nigeriardquo Commu-nications in Soil Science and Plant Analysis vol 30 no 7-8 pp1013ndash1024 1999

[18] K K Deshmukh Central Region Neutron Activation Analysis atGSI Laboratory Geological Survey of India Pune India 2000

[19] D De Soete R Gijbels and J Hoste Neutron ActivationAnalysis John Wiley amp Sons London UK 1972

[20] Ehmann W D and D E Vance Radiochemistry and NuclearMethods of Analysis vol 116 of Chemical Analysis A Series ofMonographs in Analytical Chemistry and Its Applications JohnWiley amp Sons New York NY USA 1990

[21] J Csikai Handbook of Fast Neutron Generators vol 1-2 CRCPress Boca Raton Fla USA 1987

[22] K Heydorn Neutron Activation Analysis For Clinical Trace Ele-ment Research vol 1-2 CRC Press Boca Raton Fla USA 1984

[23] S J Parry Activation Spectrometry in Chemical Analysis vol119 of Chemical Analysis A Series of Monographs in AnalyticalChemistry and Its Applications John Wiley amp Sons New YorkNY USA 1990


[24] J Tolgyessy and E H Klehr Nuclear Environmental ChemicalAnalysis Series in Analytical Chemistry Ellis Horwood Chich-ester UK 1987

[25] J Tolgyessy and M Kyrs Radioanalytical Chemistry vol 1-2Ellis Horwood Cichester UK 1989

[26] I M Klthoff and P J Elving ldquoNuclear activation and radioiso-tope methods of analysisrdquo in Treatise on Analytical ChemistryJohn Wiley amp Sons New York NY USA 1986

[27] E Witkowska K Szczepaniak and M Biziuk ldquoSome applica-tions of neutron activation analysis a reviewrdquo Journal of Radio-analytical and Nuclear Chemistry vol 265 no 1 pp 141ndash1502005

[28] I O Abugassa S Sarmani and U El-Ghawi ldquoInstrumen-tal neutron activation analysis based on k

0

-standardizationmethod as compared with other methods in the analysis ofthe IAEA inter-comparison testrdquo Journal of Radioanalytical andNuclear Chemistry vol 259 no 3 pp 381ndash384 2004

[29] J H Chao Y C Sun C J Chen C L Tseng and M H YangldquoDetermination of traceAl in silicon carbide by epithermal neu-tron activationrdquo Applied Radiation and Isotopes vol 62 no 4pp 561ndash567 2005

[30] S A Jonah I M Umar M O A Oladipo G I Balogunand D J Adeyemo ldquoStandardization of NIRR-1 irradiation andcounting facilities for instrumental neutron activation analysisrdquoApplied Radiation and Isotopes vol 64 no 7 pp 818ndash822 2006

[31] R H Filby ldquoNeutron Activation Analysis Isotopic and nuclearanalytical techniques in biological systems a critical study partIXrdquo Pure and Applied Chemistry vol 67 no 11 pp 1929ndash19411995

[32] W Liyu WINSPAN (2004) A Multi-Purpose Gamma-RaySpectrum Analysis Software CIAE Beijing China 2004

[33] R L Njinga S A Jonah I O B Ewa M O A Oladipo andG A Agbo ldquoAlternative approach for efficiency data generationin neutron activation analysisrdquo International Journal of AppliedScience and Technology vol 1 no 5 pp 244ndash256 2011

[34] E E Schulte Soil andApplied Iron Understanding PlantsNutri-ents A3554 2000

[35] M O A Oladipo R L Njinga A Baba and H L MuhammadldquoEvaluation of trace elements in some northern-Nigeria tradi-tional medicinal plants using INAA techniquerdquo Applied Radia-tion and Isotopes vol 70 no 6 pp 917ndash921 2012

[36] E Epstein Mineral Nutrition of Plants Principles and Perspec-tives John Wiley amp Sons New York NY USA 1972

[37] H D Chapman Ed Diagnostic Criteria For Plants and SoilsUniversity of California Riverside Calif USA 1972

[38] I PaisM Feher E Farkas Z Szabo and I Cornides ldquoTitaniumas a new trace elementrdquo Communications in Soil Science andPlant Analysis vol 8 pp 407ndash410 1977

[39] AM Ure and J R Bacon ldquoComprehensive analysis of soils androcks by spark-sourcemass spectrometryrdquoTheAnalyst vol 103no 1229 pp 807ndash822 1978

[40] V Romheld and H Marscher ldquoFunction of micronutrients inplantsrdquo inMicronutrients in Agriculture J Mortredt F R CoxL M Shuman and R M Welch Eds Soil Science Society ofAmerica Madison Wis USA 1991

Submit your manuscripts athttpwwwhindawicom

Nutrition and Metabolism

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Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014


Food ScienceInternational Journal of

Agronomy


International Journal of



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The Scientific World JournalHindawi Publishing Corporation httpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014

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Applied ampEnvironmentalSoil Science

Volume 2014

AgricultureAdvances in


PsycheHindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014

BiodiversityInternational Journal of


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GenomicsInternational Journal of


Plant GenomicsInternational Journal of


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EcologyInternational Journal of


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Cell BiologyInternational Journal of


Evolutionary BiologyInternational Journal of



Table 1 Primary forms of some nutrients intake by plants

Elements Symbols Forms used by plantsNitrogen N NH4

+ and NO3minus

Phosphorus P HPO42minus and H2PO4

minus

Potassium K K+

Calcium Ca Ca2+

Magnesium Mg Mg2+

Iron Fe Fe2+ and Fe3+

Manganese Mn Mn2+

Zinc Zn Zn2+

Copper Cu Cu2+

Molybdenum Mo MoO42minus

Nickel Ni Ni2+

Sodium Na Na+

solution in an equilibrium rate often referred to as bufferingprocess A detail about this process is discussed in [1]

However the soil supplies thirteen of the fifteen elementsrequired for nutrition of higher plants which must be avail-able continuously and in balanced proportions to supportphotosynthesis and other metabolic processes of plantsThe Guinea Savannah zones of Niger State as indicated inFigure 1 are of iron-rich ferralitic and ferruginous soil types[10 11]

The major soil types that favour agroecological devel-opment include Alfisols Inceptisols Entisols and VertisolsAlfisols is the most common in the Guinea Savannah regionAs derived from pre-Cambrian crystalline basement com-plex leached and slightly acid soils with pH between 50 and70 are commonly found in the Guinea Savannah zones [11]Over the years the Nigeria Savannah soils have been investi-gated severally by [2 10 11] in the areas of morphology andthe survival of cereals and other crops under drought con-ditions However the characteristics and management of theproblems associated with the soils of the Nigerian Savannahfocusing on the morphological properties particle size andchemical properties have been studied and published [12]Some works have been carried out in the areas of major andminor trace element analyses in aquatic and terrestrial envi-ronments such as sediments rocks and soils [13ndash15] Also[16] investigated sulphur in Northern Nigeria soils while [17]equally studying the Alfisols of the Savannah only on oneelement (Iron) However the assessment of soil fertilityrestoration under fallow in Nigerian Savannah included soilproperty organic matter and few inorganic elements hasbeen performed by [2] The Guinea Savannah soil types aresusceptible to erosion because of their sandy nature [11] It isfor this reason that soil amendment processes mostly fertil-izer applications andmanuring have been constantly appliedto the Guinea Savannah zones However such agrarian inter-ventions may not be self-assigned if the soil micro- andmacronutrients in the form of trace elements are not known

11Theory ofNeutronActivationAnalysis Neutron activationanalysis referred to as an analyticalmethodwas introduced by

Marginal savannaShort grass savannaWoodland and tall grass savannaRain forest

Fresh water swampMangroveMontane

Figure 1 Sampling zoned according to the vegetation types inNigeria

Harvesy and Levi in 1936 [18] De Soete et al [19] followed thedevelopment of themethod from its inception and gave an in-depth account of the various aspects Between 1980s and 90sseveral publications on the refined theory and techniques ofneutron activation analysis (NAA) have been released [20ndash26] The sensitivity of the method has been described in sev-eral places with the recent review being that of [24] and can beconsidered to be about ppb level for reactor irradiations Thesensitivity is a function of nuclear parameters of the elementin question neutron cross section isotope abundance half-life gamma-ray abundance available neutron flux length ofirradiation detector efficiency matrix composition and thetotal sample size

In the determination of activated trace elements theselectivity of the NAA method shows striking properties ofcertainty and versatility [27] Apart from measurements ofthe half-life and the type of energy of the produced isotopesprecisely the ratio of the activity of the isotope of interest tothe interfering activities can be enhanced by changing irradi-ations and decay time before counting Changing the neutronspectrum has also been shown [19] to minimize interferencesdue to fast neutron-induced reactions by choosing an irradi-ation site in the reactor with a pure thermal flux NAA has alead over other methods because of the possibility of simul-taneous assaying of a majority of elements in representativemass of substance with considerable sensitivity as comparedto other conventional techniques which require special sam-ple preparation procedures before analysis [28]

In reactor instrumental neutron activation analysisdecomposition and radiochemical separation of the radioac-tive sample are shown [19] not to be necessary All problemsrelated to the decomposition of the sample and separation(dissolution contamination and losses) are avoided Theradionuclides are determined nondestructively on the basis




119860 sam119860 std=119898sam119898std

(119890minus120582119879119889)sam

(119890minus120582119879119889)std

(1)


119889is decay time


119862sam = 119862std119882sam119882std

119860 sam119860 std (2)







119860

119883+1

0

119899 997888rarr119860+1

119883 + 120574 (3)


119860 = 119873120590120593 (1 minus 119890minus120582119905119894) (4)




119860 = 120576119868120574119873120590120593 (1 minus 119890

minus120582119905119894) 119890minus120582119905119889 (5)


gamma ray abundance


2 Soil Sampling


























Mg () 089 049 minus8089 068 113 3982Al () 146 1505 299 494 470 minus511

Ca () 141 151 662 031 030 minus333

Ti () 074 079 633 1611 1630 116K () 180 195 769 123 121 minus165

V (ppm) 28000 29560 528 6940 6600 minus515

Mn (ppm) 12870 13180 235 64700 63100 minus254
































0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100


Dist

ribut

ion

in th

e sev

en L

GA

s (

)



MokwaLapaiPaikoro









5 Conclusion


Acknowledgment


References






























0
















Journal of




Agronomy





Microbiology




Volume 2014



























119860 sam119860 std=119898sam119898std

(119890minus120582119879119889)sam

(119890minus120582119879119889)std

(1)


119889is decay time


119862sam = 119862std119882sam119882std

119860 sam119860 std (2)







119860

119883+1

0

119899 997888rarr119860+1

119883 + 120574 (3)


119860 = 119873120590120593 (1 minus 119890minus120582119905119894) (4)




119860 = 120576119868120574119873120590120593 (1 minus 119890

minus120582119905119894) 119890minus120582119905119889 (5)


gamma ray abundance


2 Soil Sampling


























Mg () 089 049 minus8089 068 113 3982Al () 146 1505 299 494 470 minus511

Ca () 141 151 662 031 030 minus333

Ti () 074 079 633 1611 1630 116K () 180 195 769 123 121 minus165

V (ppm) 28000 29560 528 6940 6600 minus515

Mn (ppm) 12870 13180 235 64700 63100 minus254
































0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100


Dist

ribut

ion

in th

e sev

en L

GA

s (

)



MokwaLapaiPaikoro









5 Conclusion


Acknowledgment


References






























0
















Journal of




Agronomy





Microbiology




Volume 2014

























2 Soil Sampling


























Mg () 089 049 minus8089 068 113 3982Al () 146 1505 299 494 470 minus511

Ca () 141 151 662 031 030 minus333

Ti () 074 079 633 1611 1630 116K () 180 195 769 123 121 minus165

V (ppm) 28000 29560 528 6940 6600 minus515

Mn (ppm) 12870 13180 235 64700 63100 minus254
































0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100


Dist

ribut

ion

in th

e sev

en L

GA

s (

)



MokwaLapaiPaikoro









5 Conclusion


Acknowledgment


References






























0
















Journal of




Agronomy





Microbiology




Volume 2014






























Mg () 089 049 minus8089 068 113 3982Al () 146 1505 299 494 470 minus511

Ca () 141 151 662 031 030 minus333

Ti () 074 079 633 1611 1630 116K () 180 195 769 123 121 minus165

V (ppm) 28000 29560 528 6940 6600 minus515

Mn (ppm) 12870 13180 235 64700 63100 minus254
































0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100


Dist

ribut

ion

in th

e sev

en L

GA

s (

)



MokwaLapaiPaikoro









5 Conclusion


Acknowledgment


References






























0
















Journal of




Agronomy





Microbiology




Volume 2014
















































0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100


Dist

ribut

ion

in th

e sev

en L

GA

s (

)



MokwaLapaiPaikoro









5 Conclusion


Acknowledgment


References






























0
















Journal of




Agronomy





Microbiology




Volume 2014



























0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100


Dist

ribut

ion

in th

e sev

en L

GA

s (

)



MokwaLapaiPaikoro









5 Conclusion


Acknowledgment


References






























0
















Journal of




Agronomy





Microbiology




Volume 2014


























5 Conclusion


Acknowledgment


References






























0
















Journal of




Agronomy





Microbiology




Volume 2014






























0
















Journal of




Agronomy





Microbiology




Volume 2014


























Journal of




Agronomy





Microbiology




Volume 2014
























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Research Article Analysis of Essential Elements for Plants ...downloads.hindawi.com/journals/ija/2013/156520.pdf · into two categories: prompt gamma-ray neutron activation analysis