Use of nuclear techniques in studies of soil-plant relationships

Isotope and radiation methods have proved to be very useful in agricultural research and in increasing world food production to the level at which it is today. These methods are being used routinely in fields like plant nutrition and soil fertility, plant breeding, animal production and health, insect pest control, food preservation and pesticide residue studies. With continuous improvements of isotope and radiation methods there is the need to update at regular intervals information used for the training of agricultural scientists in these fields. The major limitation facing researchers in the developing countries when trying to benefit from the use of isotope and radiation methods for solving problems in their countries is the lack of technical information. Training courses are very efficient for transferring technology to the developing countries. The Soil Fertility, Irrigation and Crop Production Section of the Joint VAO/IARA Division of Nuclear Techniques in Food and Agriculture and the Soil Science Unit of the IAEA Seibersdorf Laboratory hav