FERTILIZERS, IMPORTANCE AND TYPES

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Fertilizers

• What is a fertilizer?– Definition - a material added

to the soil that supplies essential nutrients plants need for vegetative and reproductive growth.

Fertilizers

‒ Fertilizer (or fertiliser) is any organic or inorganic material of natural or synthetic origin (other than liming materials) that is added to a soil to supply one or more plant nutrients essential to the growth of plants.

Importance of Fertilizers

• Why fertilizers are important?– increasing population increases food

demand– Increase production per unit area.– Key inputs contributing about 30 to 70

percent increase in crop yield– Build-up - increasing the level of minerals

and OM in the soil.

Importance of Fertilizers

‒ Maintenance - replenishing nutrients lost through leaching, removal during plant growth, and harvest.

‒ Increase plant resistance to diseases, insect and weather injury.

Importance of Fertilizers

‒ Improve water holding capacity of soil. ‒ Aid in balancing soil pH.‒ Aid in reducing soil erosion.‒ Improve seed germination.

Types of Fertilizers

• Complete• Incomplete• Organic• Inorganic• Soluble• Insoluble• Straight• Compound

Complete vs. Incomplete

• Complete has all three primary nutrients-nitrogen phosphorous & potassium– Examples: 10-20-20, 15-15-15

• Incomplete DOES NOT have all three primary nutrients– Examples: 46-0-0, 18-46-0, 0-0-50

Organic Fertilizers

• Comes from plant or animal matter and contains carbon compounds

• Examples: urea,compost,green manures etc.

Advantages of Organic

• Slow release of nutrients• Not easily leached from the soil• Add organic components to growing media

Disadvantages of Organic

• No release at right plant growth stages• Hard to get• Not sterile• Low nutrient content• Voluminous • Expensive

Inorganic Fertilizers

• Comes from sources other than animals or plants

• Chemical products

Advantages of Inorganic

• Can make the desired ratio of nutrients• easy to get• lower cost

Disadvantages of Inorganic

• No organic material • possible chemical building up in growing

media• High energy consumption• Long-Term Sustainability• Over fertilization

Soluble Fertilizer

• Dissolve in water and are applied as a liquid solution

• Fertigation– fertilizing through irrigation water– big advantage

Insoluble Fertilizer

• Includes granular and slow release applied to the growing media

Granular vs. Slow Release

• Granular– relatively inexpensive– easy to find

• Slow Release– more expensive because it is coated– more uniform release of nutrients over time

period

Straight vs Compound

• Straight: Examples: Urea, MOP, SSP and CAN etc• Compound fertilizers: Examples: DAP, Nitrophos, NPK etc

Fertilizers available in Pakistan

  Common name Grade or Analysis (%)

N P2O5 K2O Sulphur

Nitrogenous fertilizersUrea 46 0 0 0Ammonium sulphate 21 0 0 24Calcium ammonium Nitrate (CAN) 26 0 0 0Phosphatic fertilizersSingle Superphosphate (SSP) 0 18 0 12Triple superphosphate (TSP) 0 46 0 1.5Diammonium phosphate (DAP) 18 46 0 0Monoammonium Phosphate (MAP) 11 52 0 2

Continue . . . .

   Potassic fertilizersSulphate of potash (SOP) 0 0 50 18Muriate of potash (MOP) 0 0 60 0Complex fertilizersNitrophosphate (Nitrophos) 23 23 0 0Complete NPKs 15 15 15 5  10 20 20 6.8  13 13 21 6.0Micronutrients

Zinc sulphate (Zn 36.0 %)     0 17.8

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