Sulphur nutrition and the sulphur cycle

Sulphur is an essential nutrient for all living organisms. However, S deficiency was rare before the 1990s, due to the presence of S in fertilisers and atmospheric deposition. Over the last decade the S balance has shifted toward deficit as a result of decreased S pollution, increased use of non S-containing fertilisers and increased crop yields. Long-term monitoring of S deposition at both Rothamsted and Woburn allowed us to detect the early signs of a potential S deficiency at the beginning of the 1990s (Fig. 25). Since then our research on S has intensified, encompassing both fundamental and applied aspects of crop S nutrition and the S cycling.