Fabaceous Plants Under Abiotic Stresses and Biochemical Functions of Micronutrients

Abstract

Fabaceous plants are mostly grown in tropical and subtropical areas of the world. These are rich sources of minerals and proteins to the human beings and animals. They have a specific function nitrogen fixation in their root nodules through symbiotic association with prokaryotic organisms. Thus, they provide staple protein-rich food to the world’s increasing population on one hand and contribute soil fertility by providing available nitrogen on the other hand. These processes are vital for maintaining the ecosystem. Due to the rapid fluctuation in environmental variables, Fabaceous plants are facing various abiotic stress problems such as drought, minerals disorders, salinity, temperature, water and losing their growth reproductive yields, and other products of various importances emerge as a great problem and big challenge for their management. Micronutrients such as zinc, iron, copper, manganese, molybdenum, boron, chlorine are essential to normal growth and biomolecular functions of all the plants. Fabaceous plants also require these essential micronutrients for their growth, metabolism, and reproductive yield. The assessment and management of micronutrient status in soil–plants can protect the Fabaceous plants to grow normally and keep their specific function nitrogen fixation, even under abiotic stress conditions. Soils in adverse environmental conditions (drought, salinity, degradation through erosion, etc.) mostly show the deficiency of micronutrients which account for a wide gap in between the production level of the food crops including Fabaceous plants and also necessitate their prompt management.