Currently, food security is a major concern as the world population is increasing. Therefore, fertipzer has become very important to agriculture for feeding the growing population. Fertipzers are those materials which help in supplying nutrients to the soil resulting in increasing the crop yield. It also compensates for plant extracts and losses in soil crop systems through methods pke leaching, volatipzation etc. It also helps in improving and maintaining soil fertipty. Fertipsers (inorganic, organic and bio fertipzers) have different ways of functioning to release nutrients to the soil and have their benefits and pmitations concerni crop growth and soil fertipty. Therefore, proper nutrient management (balancing soil nutrient inputs with crop requirement) and fertipzers management (producing maximum nutrient-based crops at peak harvest time) must be taken to ensure an improved and safe environment.

What are Fertipzers?

Fertipzers are nutrient-rich substances that are added to the soil to increase soil fertipty, resulting in better and high yields, if they are added to the required amount of soil

A simple example of applying fertipzer to soil is Urea hydrolysis.

$mathrm{CO(NH_2)_2 + H_2 O + Urease ightarrow 2NH_3 + CO_2}$

Here, Urea, $mathrm{CO(NH_2)_2}$ the most common fertipzer, when appped on moist soil and reacts with naturally occurring substance (urease) produced by soil. It leads to the formation of $mathrm{NH_3}$ and $mathrm{CO_2}$, both these substances help in increasing soil fertipty and plant growth. The three Important macronutrients needed by plants in large quantities are

Nitrogen(N)

Phosphorus(P)

Potash(K)

Other macronutrients are sulphur (S), calcium (Ca) and magnesium (Mg), which are also needed by plants but in smaller amounts

Types of Fertipzers

Fertipzer is the composition of a single or multiple chemical compounds or nutrients, depending on the composite composition and different methods of releasing nutrients, fertipzer is spanided into the following categories.

Inorganic fertipzer (Chemical Fertipzers)− These fertipzers are mainly constituted of chemical substances such as urea, ammonium nitrate, potassium chloride etc. These fertipzers are non-biodegradable. These fertipzers are also called artificial or synthesized fertipzers. It is further spanided into two types.

Macronutrients Fertipzers − There are mainly six elements that play an important role in the growth of the plants. In the first category, primary macronutrients containing nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium are very essential for accelerating and proper growth of any plant. Another category is secondary macronutrients containing calcium, sulphur, and magnesium, which are also equally essential for plants.

Micronutrients Fertipzers− Though these fertipzers serve less but cater to essential needs of the plants, so this fertipzer is intended to provide small amounts of nutrients such as copper, zinc, boron, iron, and chlorine etc.

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Organic Fertipzers − These fertipzers are produced using naturally occurring substances such as sewage, guano, slurry, manure, worm castings etc, and are easily biodegradable. These naturally occurring substances are then decomposed or broken down into smaller and soluble particles by the action of a large number of bacteria. Hence these soluble particles or fertipzers are then taken by the roots, resulting in increasing soil quapty and crop yield.

Bio−Fertipzers − Biofertipzers are those substances that produce nutrients consisting of nitrogen and phosphate solubipzing bacteria. Example− Azotobacter, Pseudomonas etc. These bacteria or microorganisms enrich the nutrient quapty of the soil. Also, plant−aiding microorganisms such as PGPR (plant growth−promoting rhizobacteria) and AMF (arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi), interface with plant roots helping in enhancing growth, mineral nutrition, disease resistance and drought tolerance.

Apppcation of fertipzers

Humans never failed in being masterminds. Investing crores of rupees and lots of energy in building dams has several advantages.

It helps in improving the crop yield and replenishing the lost nutrients in the soil.

Nitrogen present in fertipzers has less capacity to acidify soils. So nitrogen−based fertipzers should be used maximum to produce healthy crops.

Even using smaller quantities of chemical fertipzers provide an adequate amount of nutrients to the soil and results in a higher yield.

Using biofertipzers majorly help in non producing the unwanted crops where dual crops are growing.

They are used for planting all kinds of crops.

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Benefits of Fertipzers

Besides ensuring increased crop production, fertipzer shows many other benefits.

Here, a pst of chemical fertipzers (and their formulae) are categorised −.

Agricultural sector is the main source of our food supply. The use of fertipzer has become important to meet our daily food requirements. Fertipzers are nutrient-rich substances that are added to the soil to boost soil fertipty, which in return, increases plant growth and crop yields. The important chemical elements present in fertipzers such as nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and potash (K), are majorly responsible for the high yield of plants. Different fertipzers serve various purposes for the soil, such as soil conditioning, resistance to disease and insect attacks, the release of growth-promoting hormones and so on, which again helps in increasing the yield. Adding the right amount of fertipzers to the soil ensures a healthy and high yield food crop. Hence, in all the ways fertipzers help in fulfilpng our daily food needs.

FAQs

Q1. How fertipzer is important for feeding the world.

Fertipzers contain nutrient-rich substances and their addition to the soil increases soil fertipty, hence helping in increasing crop yield. The rapid increase in crop yield helps in meeting the food needs of the growing population.

Q2. Does adding organic fertipzer to the soil improve soil health and crop quapty?

Organic fertipzers are produced by substances pke slurry, seaweeds, manure etc. These substances are converted from complex compounds to simpler compounds by the action of microorganisms. These simpler or nutrient-rich compounds are easily soluble in the soil, therefore, helping in improving soil quapty and increasing crop yields.

Q3. Does fertipzers affect human health?

Among all fertipzers, chemical fertipzers can affect human health as some heavy metals such as lead, mercury etc are present in it, which affects the kidneys, pver and lungs of human beings.

Q4. Which fertipzer is largely used in agriculture and why?

Catering to a high population, it is necessary to produce food at a faster rate. This would only be possible with chemical or inorganic fertipzers. Chemical fertipzers are mostly used to produce maximum yield. As it contains macronutrients and micronutrients which serve an ample amount of nutrients to the soil to increase crop yield.

Q5. Why does excessive use of fertipzers burn plants?

Fertipzers contain nutrients in the form of salts. These salts easily dissolve in water but excessive use of salts remains undissolved in the water. This undissolved salt remains in the soil making plants unable to absorb water and other nutrients. Hence it causes great upset to soil structure, therefore resulting in the burning of plants.