fertilizer,Types of Fertilizer and Importance Role in Agriculture

fertilizer,Types of Fertilizer and Importance Role in Agriculture

natural or artificial substance containing the chemical elements that improve growth and productiveness of plants. Fertilizers enhance the natural fertility of the soil or replace chemical elements taken from the soil by previous crops.Soil fertility is the quality of a soil that enables it to provide compounds in adequate amounts and proper balance to promote growth of plants when other factors (such as light, moisture, temperature, and soil structure) are favourable. Where fertility of the soil is not good, natural or manufactured materials may be added to supply the needed plant nutrients. These are called fertilizers, although the term is generally applied to largely inorganic materials other than lime or gypsum.

There are many types of fertilizers used in agriculture, including nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, and micronutrient fertilizers

Nitrogen fertilizers

Nitrogen is essential for plant growth and chlorophyll formation. Common nitrogen fertilizers include ammonium nitrate, urea, and calcium nitrate. Urea is a solid, non-explosive source of nitrogen that contains 45-46% nitrogen. 

itrate-based fertilizers are the most commonly used straight fertilizers in Europe.

The main products are nitrate-based fertilizers such as ammonium nitrate (AN) and calcium ammonium nitrate (CAN), which are well suited to most European soils and climatic conditions, and urea and urea ammonium nitrate (UAN) aqueous solution, which are widely used in other parts of the world.

Other straight nitrogen fertilizers include ammonium sulphate and ammonium sulphate nitrate, calcium nitrate, sodium nitrate, Chilean nitrate and anhydrous ammonia.

Nitrogen fertilizers with inhibitors

Certain weather and soil conditions can lead to nitrogen immobilisation, denitrification, volatilization or leaching, all reducing fertilizer efficiency. In response, the industry has developed special types of fertilizers designed to reduce these effects. They include foliar, slow and controlled release fertilizers, as well as fertilizer additives such as urease and nitrification inhibitor

Phosphorus fertilizers

Made from phosphate rock, which contains the minerals fluorapatite and hydroxyapatite. These minerals are converted into water-soluble phosphate salts using sulfuric or phosphoric acids. 

The most common phosphate fertilizers are single superphosphate (SSP), triple superphosphate (TSP), monoammonium phosphate (MAP), di-ammonium phosphate (DSP) and ammonium polyphosphate liquid.

Different fertilizer products have different release profiles and need different spreader settings for efficient application.

Potassium fertilizers

Potassium is also available in a range of fertilizers which contain potassium only or two or more nutrients and include Potassium chloride (KCl), Potassium sulphate (K2SO4) or sulphate of potash (SOP), Potassium nitrate (KNO3), known as KN.

Calcium, magnesium and sulphur Fertilizers

Calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg) and sulphur (S) are essential  secondary plant nutrients. They are not usually applied as straight fertilizers but in combination with the primary nutrients N, P, and K.

Sulphur is often added to straight N fertilizers such as ammonium nitrate or urea. Other sulphur sources are single superphosphate (SSP), potassium sulphate (SOP) and potassium magnesium sulphate (Kainite), the latter also containing magnesium.

Kieserite is a magnesium sulphate mineral that is mined and also used as fertilizer in agriculture, mainly to correct magnesium deficiencies. Calcium is mainly applied as calcium nitrate, gypsum (calcium sulphate) or lime/dolomite (calcium carbonate), of which calcium nitrate is the only readily plant available source of calcium.

Micronutrient fertilizers

Contain trace elements like iron, zinc, manganese, and copper, which are essential for plant growth and development. Micronutrient fertilizers can be chelated or non-chelated. Chelated micronutrients are available to plants at a wider range of pH levels than non-chelated micronutrients

Today, a large number of special fertilizers are available to supply plants with important micronutrients such as iron, manganese, boron, zinc and copper. These can be either inorganic or organic compounds, with the inorganic varieties further divided into water-soluble and non-soluble products.

Organic fertilizers

Crop residues, animal manures and slurries are the principal organic fertilizers. Although they have varying nutritional values, they are generally present on the farm and the nutrients and the organic carbon they contain are recycled. Animal manures and slurries cover a wide range of nutrient sources with different physical properties and nutrient contents. Furthermore, their nutrient content vary regionally and depend on the type of livestock and the farm management system.

Other types of Plant Nutrition

A wide range of so called fertilizing products can help farmers to adapt their fertilization practices to their environmental and farm conditions: organic fertilizer, organo-mineral fertilizer, mineral fertilizer incl. inhibitors, liming material, growing media, plant biostimulants etc.

Mineral Fertilizers

The European fertilizer industry  millions of tons of naturally occurring raw materials such as air, natural gas and mined ores into high quality plant nutrition products

Inhibitors

There are two major types of inhibitors today available for farmers in the EU.

Nitrification inhibitors are chemical compounds that delay the nitrification of ammonium by suppressing the activity of nitrosomonas bacteria in the soil. The objective is to preserve the ammonium in its soil-stable form and slow its conversion to nitrate. This temporarily reduces the proportion of nitrate in the soil, and thus the potential for leaching losses into water or the formation of N2O gas in the atmosphere.

The economics of fertilizers

The practical goal is to determine how much nutrient material to add. Since the farmer wants to know how much profit to expect when buying fertilizer, the tests are interpreted as an estimation of increased crop production that will result from nutrient additions. The cost of nutrients must be balanced against the value of the crop or even against alternative procedures, such as investing the money in something else with a greater potential return. The law of diminishing returns is well exemplified in fertilizer technology. Past a certain point, equal inputs of chemicals produce less and less yield increase. The goal of the farmer is to use fertilizer in such a way that the most profitable application rate is employed. Ideal fertilizer application also minimizes excess and ill-timed application, which is not only wasteful for the farmer but also harmful to nearby waterways. Unfortunately, water pollution from fertilizer runoff, which has a sphere of impact that extends far beyond the farmer and the fields, is a negative externality that is not accounted for in the costs and prices of the unregulated market.

Synthetic fertilizers

Modern chemical fertilizers include one or more of the three elements that are most important in plant nutrition: nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium. Of secondary importance are the elements sulfur, magnesium, and calcium.

Ammonium nitrate

Structure of the chemical compound ammonium nitrate, from which fertilizer is produced.(more)

Most nitrogen fertilizers are obtained from synthetic ammonia; this chemical compound (NH3) is used either as a gas or in a water solution, or it is converted into salts such as ammonium sulfate, ammonium nitrate, and ammonium phosphate, but packinghouse wastes, treated garbage, sewage, and manure are also common sources of it. Because its nitrogen content is high and is readily converted to ammonia in the soil, urea is one of the most concentrated nitrogenous "Fertilizers". An inexpensive compound, it is incorporated in mixed fertilizers as well as being applied alone to the soil or sprayed on foliage. With formaldehyde it gives methylene-urea fertilizers, which release nitrogen slowly, continuously, and uniformly, a full year’s supply being applied at one time.

Phosphorus fertilizers include calcium phosphate derived from phosphate rock or bones. The more soluble superphosphate and triple superphosphate preparations are obtained by the treatment of calcium phosphate with sulfuric and phosphoric acid, respectively. Potassium fertilizers, namely potassium chloride and potassium sulfate, are mined from potash deposits. Of commercially produced potassium compounds, almost 95 percent of them are used in agriculture as fertilizer

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        Micronutrient fertilizers

         Today, a large number of special fertilizers are available to supply plants with important micronutrients such as iron, manganese, boron, zinc and copper. These can be either inorganic or organic compounds, with the inorganic varieties further divided into water-soluble and non-soluble fertilizer

        Importance of Fertlizer

         Without fertilizers, nature struggles to replenish the nutrients in the soil. When crops are harvested, important nutrients are removed from the soil, because they follow the crop and end up at the dinner table. If the soil is not replenished with nutrients through fertilizing, crop yields will deteriorate over time.

        The soil requires the regular maintenance of its fertility. Naturally, soil comprises of very fine rocks, different types of minerals, and organic matter due to the decomposition of the biological species. The proper tillage/tilth is supported by sand, minerals, and organic matter but these do not help in supporting and maintaining adequate amounts of food for the plant required for its nourishment and growth.

       At the time of plant growth, essential nutrients are required by the plant for its unimpeded growth. Incorporating fertilizers into the soil guarantees that the plant is getting proper nutrition during its development.

         Boosting growth: One element known for its ability to boost plant growth is Nitrogen. It’s also a greening agent. Fertilizers rich in nitrogen are preferred because of their aforementioned advantagesFertilizerPhosphorus content in the fertilizers is responsible for the plants maturity. Farmers who need to accelerate plant development ought to apply phosphorus rich fertilizers.