Agriculture and Food

Fertilizers and Agriculture

For growth and other metabolic operations, every living entity requires nutrition. They eat in a certain way to ensure their survival. Plants provide nutrition to both humans and animals. Autotrophic nutrition refers to when plants create their own food and receive their nutrients through photosynthesis. The soil is not rich enough to give plants with enough critical macro and micronutrients. As a result, they require additional nutrients. Agriculture uses manures and fertilizers as alternatives for this purpose.

Agriculture

What exactly is agriculture?

Agriculture is the science of raising food and cash crops to meet the basic needs of all living things. A succession of phases are used to practice this. They used to cultivate in a relatively small field by following particular methods for their management and improvement in ancient times, but agricultural practices and technologies are fast evolving today, as they involve a set of procedures to follow in order to raise crops. Among the various agricultural practises used are:

1.preparing the soil

2.Planting seeds,

3.weeds and other undesired plants are removed from the field.

4.Crop irrigation and manuring,

5.Harvesting and storing the crops that have been harvested.

Agriculture and agricultural practices require knowledge of harvesting, as well as techniques of storing and protecting harvested crops, for higher technology in farming.

Agriculture is classified into three types:

1.Arable farming is a type of farming in which crops are grown in fields. The principal crops farmed by the Arable agricultural technique are paddy, wheat, and barley.

2.Pastoral farming is a method of raising animals and producing cattle. Pastoral agricultural animals include beef, cattle, sheep, chickens, and other animals.

3.Mixed farming is a farming technique that incorporates both arable and pastoral farming practices.

Fertilizers

Cow dung, leaves, human excreta, and other wastes are used to make manures, which are a natural source of nutrients. Fertilizers are commercial items that come in solid, gaseous, or liquid form. Both manure and fertilizers contain salts and organic substances that have recognised amounts of critical plant nutrients including nitrogen, potassium, and phosphorus. They enrich the soil and offer nutrients to plants, allowing for greater growth and output.

Different Fertilizers

Fertilizers come in six different varieties.

1.Fertilizers containing potassium.

2.Complete Fertilizers 

3.Fertilizers containing phosphate.

4.Fertilizers with a compound structure.

5.Fertilizers containing nitrogen.

6.Fertilizers containing organic nitrogen.

Fertilizer usage or Fertilizers’ Importance in Agriculture

Fertilizers, unlike manures, are quite expensive and utilized in enormous quantities in farming areas. Farmers rely heavily on fertilizer as part of agricultural production management. They should, however, only be used when absolutely necessary. Fertilizer should not be used to replace manure because it can cause soil infertility and pollution. Fertilizers are washed away with extra water during over-irrigation, making them unavailable for absorption by plants, resulting in water contamination. The blockage of fertilizers in the soil also affects the replenishment of organic compounds in the soil and harms bacteria. Fertilizers can sometimes induce plant diseases. As a result, the amount and frequency with which they are used must be monitored and controlled. It should constantly be at its best.

Due to  these drawbacks, organic farming is now favored over fertilizer. Organic farming is a relatively recent farming approach in which crops are cultivated using natural compost.

List of Chemical Fertilizers 

Chemical fertilizers are inorganic fertilizers that provide a high concentration of essential nutrients for plant growth. They are made up of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium molecules, among other macronutrients. Chemical fertilizers are classified into distinct categories based on their composition.

The following are 

1. Amide fertilizers.

2 Nitrate fertilizers.

3.Potassic Fertilizers.

4.Ammonical fertilizers.

5.Ammonical-nitrate fertilizers.

6.Insoluble phosphatic fertilizers.

7.Water-soluble phosphatic fertilizers.

8.Citric acid-soluble phosphatic fertilizers.

9.NPK – Nitrogen-Phosphorus-Potassium Fertilizers.

Conclusion 

We conclude that the agricultural sector is critical to the region’s economy. As with all other sectors of the economy, it is transitioning to a market economy, with significant changes in the social, legal, structural, productive, and supply structures.