Tag: soil fertility

Introduction

In India notably, agriculture has been practised for thousands of years without the use of artificial tools. Fertilizers that were developed in the middle of the 19th century were powerful, affordable, and easily accessible at the time, but they also had several negative side effects, such as soil erosion, water pollution, and animal body accumulation. To combat these side effects, efforts were made to find cures while simultaneously maintaining a high yield. In the 1930s, Albert Howard introduced an organic farming system to Britain by fusing his scientific techniques with traditional farming practices from India (manure, compost, and crop rotation).

What is Agriculture?

Agriculture derives from the Latin words “ager,” meaning “field,” and “colo,” meaning “to cultivate,” meaning to use or prepare a field or piece of land for producing crops. It also covers raising animals like cattle for dairy needs.

What is Organic Agriculture? 

Organic farming is the practice of cultivating crops using organic farming techniques. Compost, manure, and green manure are examples of natural fertilizers used to boost fertility and plant growth. Crop rotation is one natural or biological technique suggested to improve soil fertility. The land is allowed some time to rest after raising a crop so that it can naturally regain its fertility.

Types of Organic Agriculture

Organic agriculture is categorized into two types.

Pure organic farming:

• In this kind of organic farming, farmers only utilize natural ingredients to promote plant growth, improve soil fertility, and stop soil erosion. 
• It is best to avoid using any kind of pesticide because it hurt crops, important soil bacteria, and even people who eat the food.

Integrated organic farming:

• This method of organic farming, also known as the “Zero waste” technique, is carried out in such a way that residues or wastes are produced in “zero” proportions.

Aims of Organic Agriculture

• Protecting the environment
• Natural resource conservation
• Keeping the ecological balance 
• Improvement of soil fertility 
• Stop soil erosion 
• Protecting wildlife and plants from the negative effects of artificial fertilizers and chemicals 
• Maximizing agricultural production
• Reduce the number of chemicals we use to produce food

Practices Followed During Organic Agriculture:

• Crop rotation: To preserve soil fertility, different crops are cultivated in alternate years on the same plot of land. 
• Green manure and cover crops: Green manure improves soil fertility and is good for crop plant growth. The term “cover crops” refers to plants whose primary purpose is to prevent soil erosion, but which also progressively mix with the soil as they naturally deteriorate and serve as green manure.
• Compost and manure are made consisting of organic materials that provide nutrients for plants, such as cow dung and other crop plant wastes.
• Bio pest control: By feeding on disease-causing pests, beneficial organisms found in soil can suppress harmful pests.

Steps Involved in Developing Organic Farms

• Using organic management techniques rather than merely conventional farming methods. 
• Environmental conservation and wise use of natural resources. 
• Only natural or biological approaches, such as crop rotation, manure, compost, and cover crops, are employed instead of synthetic media that use chemicals. 
• Weeds should be pulled out since they compete with crops for nutrition and grow alongside them. 
• Pest management by biotechnology for crops. the method of organic farming that is integrated.

Disease Management

• Because infections are a major factor in plants’ decreased output, disease management is necessary. This is accomplished by keeping beneficial organisms in the soil that feed on destructive pests that degrade plants. 
• The major advantage of organic farming is that it preserves beneficial bacteria and fungi that would otherwise be eliminated by the use of conventional fertilizers and pesticides through a system of “checks and balances.” 
• These microbes aid in preserving the soil’s ecosystem and inhibit the development of pathogenic bacteria and fungi.

Methods of Organic Agriculture: 

• Weed management: Organic farming attempts to lessen the presence of weeds rather than eradicate it.
• Biological pest control: Beneficial microbes that are retained and not permanently destroyed keep harmful disease-causing microbes in check.
• Soil Management: As the most crucial factor in plant growth, soil management involves a variety of techniques. Cover crops, manure, compost, and the maintenance of beneficial organisms are among the measures used to increase its fertility.
• Polyculture: To quickly meet the need for food, many different types of crops are grown at the same time.
• Manure and compost: To increase output while causing the least amount of damage to the soil and plants, organic materials such as plant and animal waste are utilized to create natural fertilizers.

What are the Benefits of Organic Agriculture? 

• Environmental protection is facilitated by reducing chemical use and the pollution that results from it. 
• Since no toxic pesticides are applied, it protects non-target creatures, including people and animals, whose health is impacted when these chemicals build up in their systems. 
• Because organic farming uses naturally produced manure, the high cost of pesticides is reduced. 
• It helps to lessen erosion while also enhancing the soil’s physical attributes including fertility and water-holding capacity.
• Additionally, crop failure risk is decreased.

Disadvantages of Organic Agriculture

• It’s hard to find organic manure in large quantities. 
• Even though ordinary Indian farmers’ agricultural methods are organic, they are not recognized as such and are nonetheless sold for the same prices as conventional (normal) farming produce. 
• A regular farmer cannot understand the regulations of organic farming, which include production, processing, transportation, and crucial certification. 
• Farmers don’t like certification since it is an expensive process that necessitates a lot of paperwork. 
• Since organic farming uses special techniques, its products are typically more expensive for customers.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. Is organic farming a new or traditional practice in India??
Ans. Since the beginning, only natural methods have been utilized in India. Artificial methods only began to be used in the 19th century, but as soon as people realized the problems they brought, they quickly returned to favouring organic farming, not just in India but also in other foreign nations.

2. How is organic farming doing in India?
Ans. In India, there is a beginning of organic farming; just 2% of the land is used for organic farming; the remainder is used for conventional farming using synthetic chemicals. By 2030, this will be more successful.

3. What are the main advantages of organic farming over conventional agriculture?
Ans. Preventing soil erosion has several positive effects, including higher soil fertility, better growth conditions, and reduced water contamination. This is a significant issue with conventional farming.

4. What benefits do conventional farming techniques have over organic ones?
Ans. Advantages of Conventional farming: The plants created all have the same genetic makeup. Using this technique, plenty of plants can be grown swiftly. While some plants generate few or no seeds, others do not allow their seeds to germinate.

Introduction

Food security is currently a big issue due to the growing global population. As a result, fertilizer has become crucial to agriculture to feed the world’s expanding population. Fertilizers are substances that aid in providing nutrients to the soil, enhancing crop yield. Additionally, it aids in preserving and enhancing soil fertility. Inorganic, organic, and biofertilizers all work in somewhat different ways to release nutrients into the soil and each has advantages and disadvantages in terms of crop growth and soil fertility.

What are Fertilizers?

Fertilizers are nutrient-rich compounds that are put into the soil to boost soil fertility, which, if added to the needed amount of soil, results in better and higher yields.  Urea hydrolysis is a basic illustration of how fertilizer is applied into the soil.

\[{\bf{CO}}{({\bf{N}}{{\bf{H}}_2})_2}\; + \;{\rm{ }}\;{{\bf{H}}_2}{\bf{O}}\;{\rm{ }}\; + \;{\rm{ }}{\bf{Urease}}\;\;{\bf{2N}}{{\bf{H}}_3}\; + \;{\bf{C}}{{\bf{O}}_2}\]

Here, the most popular fertilizer, urea, or \(CO{\left( {N{H_2}} \right)_2}\), reacts with urease, a naturally occurring chemical produced by the soil, when it is applied to moist soil. It causes the synthesis of \({\bf{N}}{{\bf{H}}_3}\;{\bf{and}}{\rm{ }}{\bf{C}}{{\bf{O}}_2}\), both of which promote soil fertility and plant development. The three essential macronutrients that plants require in the greatest amounts are Nitrogen (N), Phosphorus (P), and Potash (K). Sulphur (S), Calcium (Ca), and Magnesium (Mg) are additional macronutrients that plants also require, but in smaller amounts.

Types of Fertilizers

Fertilizer is categorized into the following groups according to the composite makeup and various techniques of releasing nutrients:

• Inorganic fertilizers: Inorganic fertilizers are mostly made of chemical compounds like urea, ammonium nitrate, potassium chloride, etc. These fertilizers can’t decompose naturally. These fertilizers are often known as synthetic or artificial fertilizers. It is subdivided into two categories:
  • Macronutrients Fertilizers: Primary macronutrients that are rich in Nitrogen,Phosphorous, and Potassium are crucial for any plant’s rapid and healthy growth. Secondary macronutrients, which are similarly important to plants and contain calcium, sulfur, and magnesium, constitute another category.
  • Micronutrients Fertilizers: These fertilizers are designed to give trace amounts of nutrients like Copper, Zinc, Boron, Iron, and Chlorine, among others, even though they have a limited purpose in meeting the basic demands of plants.
• Organic Fertilizers: These easily biodegradable fertilizers are made from naturally occurring materials like sewage, guano, slurry, manure, worm castings, etc. Then, a vast number of microorganisms work to break down these naturally occurring substances into smaller and soluble particles.

• Bio-Fertilizers: Biofertilizers are compounds that generate nutrients from microorganisms that solubilize nitrogen and phosphate. Examples include Pseudomonas, Azotobacter, etc. These microorganisms or bacteria improve the soil’s nutritional content.

Application of fertilizers

• It aids in increasing crop yield and replenishing the soil’s depleted nutrients.
• The ability of nitrogen in fertilizers to make soils acidic is lessened. 
• To grow healthy crops, nitrogen-based fertilizers should be applied as much as possible. 
• Chemical fertilizers can be used in smaller amounts while yet providing the soil with enough nutrients to produce a larger yield. 
• Where two crops are growing, using biofertilizers greatly aids in preventing the production of undesirable crops. They are used to cultivate a variety of crops.

Benefits of Fertilizers

Inorganic fertilizers (Chemical Fertilizers)	Organic Fertilizers	Biofertilizers
It is simpler to use and handle.	Helpful in bringing soil nutrients to the surface and ensuring that they are delivered to plants in an even distribution.	It guarantees soil enrichment.
It easily dissolves in soil and has an immediate impact on crops since they contain soluble salts.	Keeping the moisture constant, it helps to relieve soil stress.	These fertilizers contain microorganisms that break down complicated organic compounds into simpler, nutrient-rich forms that plants may easily access.
These fertilizers are extremely productive, even if they are only used in modest quantities.	It is environmentally friendly.	Through processes like nitrogen fixation and phosphorus solubilization, it naturally raises the nitrogen and phosphorus content in the soil, making it more nutrient-rich.
By allowing water to penetrate the soil, fertilizers like gypsum help crops develop healthily.	On plants, it has a less harmful effect.	These fertilizers provide hormones like amino acids, vitamins, etc. that promote plant root growth.
Utilizing fertilizers like lime, which lessen the impact of acid on the soil, aids in preserving the soil’s pH equilibrium.	These fertilizers are a rich source of soil bacteria, which in turn aid in growing a healthy crop and ward against pest attacks.

List of Chemical Fertilizers

Nitrogenous Fertilizers	Phosphatic Fertilizers	Potassic Fertilizers
UreaAmmonium sulphate    Ammonium nitrateSodium citrate Potassium nitrateCalcium ammonium nitrate	Rock phosphatePhosphoric acidSuper phosphatesDiammonium phosphate	Muriate of potashSulphate of potash Potassium metaphosphate Potassium nitrate

Summary

Fertilizers are nutrient-rich compounds that are put into the soil to boost soil fertility, which, if added to the needed amount of soil, results in better and higher yields. Fertilizer is categorized into the following groups according to the composite makeup and various techniques of releasing nutrients: chemical, organic, and biofertilizers. To grow healthy crops, nitrogen-based fertilizers should be applied as much as possible. 

Frequently Asked Questions

1. How crucial is fertilizer to feeding the world’s population?
Ans. Fertilizers have nutrient-rich components, and adding them to the soil makes the soil more fertile, which helps to enhance crop output. The rapidly rising agricultural yield aids in supplying the expanding population’s growing need for food.

2. Does incorporating organic fertilizer into the soil enhance crop quality and soil health?
Ans. Organic fertilizers are made from things like slurry, dung, seaweed, etc. Microorganisms transform these complicated compounds into simpler compounds. These more straightforward or nutrient-rich substances are readily absorbed in the soil, which aids in enhancing soil quality and raising crop yields.

3. Can fertilizers harm a person’s health?
Ans. Chemical fertilizers are among those that can have an impact on human health because they include heavy metals like lead, mercury, and others that can harm a person’s kidneys, liver, and lungs.

4. What kind of fertilizer is most used in agriculture, and why?
Ans. To feed a large population, food production must increase. Only fertilizers made of chemicals or inorganic materials could make this possible. The majority of chemical fertilizers are used to produce the highest yield. Given that it contains macronutrients and micronutrients, it provides the soil with a sufficient amount of nutrients to boost crop yield.

5. Why do plants burn when fertilizers are used excessively?
Ans. Salt-based nutrients are present in fertilizers. These salts readily dissolve in water; however, salts used in excess leave the water undissolved. Plants are unable to absorb water and other nutrients because of the undissolved salt that stays in the soil. As a result, it greatly disturbs the soil’s structure and causes plants to burn.