Plant physiology Julius von Sachs unified the pieces of plant physiology and put them together as a discipline. His "Lehrbuch der Botanik" was the plant physiology bible of its time. Researchers discovered in the 1800s that plants absorb essential mineral nutrients as inorganic ions in water. In natural conditions, soil acts as a mineral nutrient reservoir but the soil itself is not essential to plant growth. When the mineral nutrients in the soil are dissolved in water, plant roots absorb nutrients readily, soil is no longer required for the plant to thrive. This observation is the basis for hydroponics, the growing of
Natural growth promoter Natural growth promoter Natural growth promoters (NGPs) are feed additives for farm animals. Different categories of feed additives for farm animals are referred to as natural growth promoters (NGPs) or non-antibiotic growth promoters. They are commonly regarded as favorable alternatives to antibiotic growth promoters (AGPs) in livestock production. NGPs include predominantly organic acids, probiotics, prebiotics, synbiotics, phytogenics, tannins, feed enzymes and immune stimulants., an ongoing search for alternatives has created a large variety of NGPs for pigs, poultry, ruminants and aquatic species. The main advantage of NGPs over AGPs is that they do usually not bear any risk regarding bacterial