Tag: improved methods of agriculture

The uses of fertilizer are :

1. They boost crop yields.
2. Increases the protein content of the plants.
3. Imparts dark green colour to the leaves.
4. Improves overall quality of the plants.
5. Help in blooming and seed formation.
6. Increases vigour, resistance to frost and insects, pests and diseases.
7. Helps in the development of healthy root system.
8. Makes the stalks stronger.
9. Helps in ripening of cereals and fruits.
10. Increases vigour and diseases resistance in the plants.
11. Enhances the synthesis of carbohydrates.

Soil pH is considered a master variable in soils as it affects many chemical processes. It specifically affects plant nutrient availability by controlling the chemical forms of the different nutrients and influencing the chemical reactions they undergo. 

Growers apply ammonium sulfate primarily where they need supplemental N and S to meet the nutritional requirement of growing plants. Since, ammonium sulfate contains only 21 percent N, other fertilizer sources are more concentrated and economical to transport, often making them a better choice for N-deficient fields. However, ammonium sulfate provides an excellent source of S, which supports or drives numerous essential plant functions, including protein synthesis.

Disadvantages of fertilizers are:

1. Constant application is needed.
2. Cause soil pollution, water pollution.
3. Cause plant toxicity.
4. Lead to biomagnifications.

To produce fertilizer in the most usable form, each of the different compounds, ammonium nitrate, potassium chloride, ammonium phosphate, and triple superphosphate are granulated and blended together. So, commercial fertilisers are available mostly in the form of granules.

The characteristic of good fertilizer are:

1. It should be soluble in water so that it can penetrate the soil and thus it may be easily assimilated by the plants.
2. It must have essential elements in the form of a compound, which can be easily assimilated by plants.
3. It should not alter the acidity or alkalinity of soil.
4. It should not be fairly stable i.e it not decompose rapidly in soil and lose its essential element.
5. It storage properties must be good with little or no tendency to setting or deliquescence.

Foliar fertilizers are applied directly to leaves. The method is almost invariably used to apply water-soluble straight nitrogen fertilizers and used especially for high value crops such as fruits.

The addition of fertilizer to irrigation water is called "fertigation".

There are actually only two classes of fertilisers: liquid and solid, but the majority of fertilisers used in agriculture are in solid state.

Liquid fertilizer is inorganic substance produced industrially and introduced into the soil in a liquid state. Liquid fertilizers include nitrogenous fertilizers,, anhydrous liquid ammonia, aqueous ammonia, ammoniates, concentrated solutions of ammonium nitrate and urea, and complex fertilizers containing two or three basic plant food elements(nitrogen, phosphorous, and potassium) in various proportions.