Macronutrients play a very important role in plant growth and development. Three main elements are nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium (N, P, K) and are required in abundance. They must be readily available through soil medium or fertilizer. The secondary elements are sulfur, calcium, and magnesium (S, Ca, Mg). The problem of low soil fertility and poor plant nutrition does not only affect crop yields but also crop quality. Various nutrient elements influence biochemical processes and eventually affect the overall quality of various crops and their products. Depending on the amount that is available for plant uptake, these nutrients influence crop yields and quality and plants treated with absence of nutrients in the nutrient solution showed that N and Ca were the most limiting nutrients to biomass production The crop quality characteristics mostly reported to be affected by plant nutrition include: proteins, carbohydrate, sucrose and fructose content in grains, root crops, tuber crops and fruits; vitamins like beta-carotene content in fruits and tubers; moisture content at storage in cereal grains, potato tuber density; and frying colours, and fruit weight. It has been noted that essential and beneficial nutrient elements contribute to crop quality through functioning as raw materials for the synthesis of various plant components that have food value to humans and animals.
Keywords: Quality, Yield, nutrient content, plant growth.
