**1. History and Production:**
– Management of soil fertility dates back to early agricultural societies like Egyptians, Romans, and Babylonians.
– John Bennet Lawes’ experiments in the 19th century led to the artificial manure industry.
– Industrial processes like the Haber and Ostwald processes revolutionized nitrogen-based fertilizer production.
– Synthetic nitrogen and phosphate fertilizer usage has significantly increased over the last 50 years.
– In 2021, global agricultural use of inorganic fertilizers was 195 million tonnes, with Asia being the largest user.
– Yara International is the largest producer of nitrogen-based fertilizers.
**2. Mechanism and Environmental Impact:**
– Fertilizers enhance plant growth by providing essential nutrients like nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, and micronutrients.
– Fertilizers play a crucial role in promoting leaf growth, root development, stem strength, and flowering in plants.
– Increased use of nitrogen fertilizers has contributed to the productivity of conventional food systems.
– Environmental consequences of fertilizers include water pollution, eutrophication, and soil contamination.
– Sustainable agriculture practices can mitigate adverse environmental effects of fertilizer use.
**3. Global Usage and Microbiological Considerations:**
– Asia accounted for 53% of global agricultural use of inorganic fertilizers in 2021.
– China, India, Brazil, and the United States are the largest users of inorganic fertilizers.
– Urease catalyzes the conversion of urea to ammonium ion and bicarbonate ion.
– Ammonia-oxidizing and nitrite-oxidizing bacteria play crucial roles in nitrogen-based fertilizer efficiency.
– Ammonium nitrate and urea are widely used nitrogen-based fertilizers.
**4. Classification and Micronutrients:**
– Fertilizers are categorized based on single or multiple nutrient provision, with inorganic and organic distinctions.
– Micronutrients like boron, zinc, molybdenum, iron, and manganese are essential for plant metabolism.
– Micronutrient needs vary based on plant type and environmental conditions.
– Iron is often administered as a chelate complex due to soil conversion issues.
– Micronutrients are required in smaller quantities and are often provided as water-soluble salts.
**5. Types of Fertilizers and Statistics:**
– Nitrogen, phosphate, and potassium fertilizers play essential roles in plant growth.
– NPK fertilizers combine nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium.
– Organic fertilizers have biologic origins and follow organic agriculture restrictions.
– China is the largest producer and consumer of nitrogen fertilizers.
– Agricultural and chemical minerals in fertilizers are valued at approximately $200 billion.
A fertilizer (American English) or fertiliser (British English) is any material of natural or synthetic origin that is applied to soil or to plant tissues to supply plant nutrients. Fertilizers may be distinct from liming materials or other non-nutrient soil amendments. Many sources of fertilizer exist, both natural and industrially produced. For most modern agricultural practices, fertilization focuses on three main macro nutrients: nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and potassium (K) with occasional addition of supplements like rock flour for micronutrients. Farmers apply these fertilizers in a variety of ways: through dry or pelletized or liquid application processes, using large agricultural equipment or hand-tool methods.
Historically fertilization came from natural or organic sources: compost, animal manure, human manure, harvested minerals, crop rotations and byproducts of human-nature industries (i.e. fish processing waste, or bloodmeal from animal slaughter). However, starting in the 19th century, after innovations in plant nutrition, an agricultural industry developed around synthetically created fertilizers. This transition was important in transforming the global food system, allowing for larger-scale industrial agriculture with large crop yields.
Nitrogen-fixing chemical processes, such as the Haber process invented at the beginning of the 20th century, and amplified by production capacity created during World War II, led to a boom in using nitrogen fertilizers. In the latter half of the 20th century, increased use of nitrogen fertilizers (800% increase between 1961 and 2019) has been a crucial component of the increased productivity of conventional food systems (more than 30% per capita) as part of the so-called "Green Revolution".
The use of artificial and industrially-applied fertilizers has caused environmental consequences such as water pollution and eutrophication due to nutritional runoff; carbon and other emissions from fertilizer production and mining; and contamination and pollution of soil. Various sustainable-agriculture practices can be implemented to reduce the adverse environmental effects of fertilizer and pesticide use as well as other environmental damage caused by industrial agriculture.