Explore important concepts in nutrient management for healthy, high-yield tobacco cultivation. This quiz focuses on best practices and common nutrient challenges in tobacco agriculture.
Which nutrient is most critical for achieving high-quality cured tobacco leaves with good color and texture?
Explanation: Potassium is essential for tobacco leaf quality, influencing color, texture, and burning properties. Calcium mainly maintains cell wall integrity, zinc is needed in trace amounts for enzyme function, and boron is important for cell growth but less directly tied to leaf quality.
A tobacco farmer notices pale, stunted plants with reduced leaf size; which nutrient deficiency is most likely present?
Explanation: Nitrogen deficiency commonly causes pale leaves and stunted growth in tobacco. Magnesium and iron deficiencies lead to chlorosis but not severe stunting, and sulfur deficiency typically shows as overall yellowing but with different leaf symptoms.
Why might a grower apply lime before planting a tobacco crop?
Explanation: Liming increases soil pH, which helps make nutrients more available to tobacco plants. It does not provide phosphorus, does not make soil more compact, and liming is not used to reduce nitrogen.
What is a potential consequence of applying excessive fertilizer nitrogen to a tobacco field?
Explanation: Over-fertilization with nitrogen can cause leaf burn and poor leaf quality during curing. It does not improve disease resistance, affect root thickness noticeably, or directly delay natural leaf drop.
For maximizing nutrient uptake in tobacco, when is the most effective time to apply the majority of fertilizer nutrients?
Explanation: Applying fertilizers at planting and early growth ensures nutrients are available when tobacco plants need them most. Applying after flowering, just before harvest, or mid-season misses the crop's peak nutrient demand.