About Fertilizer

How does an apple a day keep the doctor away? Quite simply with nutrients. From vitamins and carbohydrates to proteins, nutrients are packed into every single bite of an apple, which helps to keep humans well nourished and healthy. And how do we ensure the fruits and vegetables grown on farms are healthy? With fertilizer nutrients.

The nutrients that are essential for human growth are also necessary for plant growth. Humans, animals and plants rely on a safe, healthy supply of food and nutrients like nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium for proper growth and development. Plant nutrients are the “food” that plants need to generate the food humans eat.

Fertilizer major crop nutrients are nitrogen, phosphorus and potash – all naturally occurring elements in the environment. Micronutrients are also required in smaller amounts by plants. These elements are critical to the growth, development and health of plants and influence food quality and health attributes that are important for human nutrition.

Read more: N, P, K * Sulfur, Micronutrients and Bag Analysis

What's a nutrient?

Nourish, Replenish and Grow

Since the beginning of agriculture several thousand years ago, soil fertility has been of vital concern. At first, men sought out areas with fertile soils, which they farmed until its fertility was exhausted and then moved to another area. With the help of fertilizer, farmers can now improve and predict soil health and crop yields.

Farmers are not adding fertilizers to the ground. Rather, they are replacing nutrients that are lost at each harvest and restoring a soil’s balance. Farmers use fertilizers to meet plant nutrient requirements and to replace the nutrients that have been absorbed by plants. Each season, growing crops remove essential nutrients from the soil, depleting its future fertility and yield potential. By fertilizing their land, farmers are simply replenishing the nutrients removed to produce food and maintain the health of their soil.

An insufficient supply of nutrients compromises a plant’s ability to withstand harsh weather, disease and other stresses. Although dry weather played a key role in the “dust bowl” conditions of the 1930s, insufficient levels of nutrients were one of the problems that plagued Depression-era farmers. Today, the United Nations estimates that more than 30 percent of the world’s land is affected by desertification, a condition that fertilizers are used to combat.

Additional Resources

• Watch a short video about fertilizer’s role in maintaining healthy soils.
• Watch a short video about how fertilizer affects food quality and quantity.
• Watch a short video about how commonly used potassium chloride is used in balanced diets.
• Watch a short video about how fertilizer improves the nutritional quality of the food we eat.