Saturday, January 24, 2009

Chemical Fertilizers Vs Organic Fertilizers

For past several years, the people of our planet have been affected by polluted food, water and environment. This is because the farmers and the planters used excessive chemical fertilizers to grow their crops and plants.

Mindset
The farmers and planters have a mindset that chemical fertilizers have higher nutrient value. They applied N:P:K as high as 15:15:15 for the growing stage and 20:20:37 for matured stage once every 3 or 4 months. But they failed to see the actual truth. The truth is that plants do not require high doses of fertilizers all at once. Like all living things, they take in nutrients bit by bit everyday. Excessive chemical fertilizers will be destroyed by exposure to sunlight and leach away during rain and floods. Since chemical fertilizers are expensive, their dependence on them will increase their production cost. According to advertisements, chemical fertilizers have immediate effect on the plants, whereas organic fertilizers have a slower effect. Yes it is true, but there are many side effects.

Side Effects of Chemical Fertilizers
When a patient is sick, the doctor cannot give him high doses of medicine at once to make him get well faster. High doses may make his health condition worse and have many side effects. Likewise, high doses of chemical fertilizers will damage the plant and affect the soil structure and ecosystem. The soil will become hardened and thus make it harder for the water/rain water to penetrate and be stored in the soil. Without adequate water, plants will become water- stressed. Furthermore, the dryness, hardness, acidity and salinity condition of the soil make it difficult for the beneficial microorganisms (em), earth worms and moles to survive. Without their presence in quantity, plant growth will be affected. After a few years, the condition of the farms or the plantations will become very difficult for the plants to grow or for replanting.

Benefits of Organic Fertilizers
On the other hand, organic fertilizers are natural to the plants because they are made up of organic matter. They contain a whole range of nutrients required by plants which chemical fertilizers cannot provide. The organic fertilizers can enrich, condition and improve the soil structure. Once the soil structure is "conditioned", the plants can be grown on it without problems. Organic fertilizers can also improve the ecosystem of the farms and plantations. Replanting of crops and disease management on organic farms and plantations will not be much of a problem.

Nutritional Value of Organic Vegetables and Fruits
Studies have shown that the normal vegetables and fruits that we are eating now contain about only 10% of nutrients that we got 50 years ago. This is because most of them are grown on the ground, in the water or in containers which are depleted of organic matter and without a good soil-web. To boost their growth, the farmers use solid or liquid chemicals which do not contain the balanced nutrients. That's why organically grown vegetables and fruits taste better and are more nutritious than those chemically grown.

Conclusion
The use of organic fertilizers will benefit the farmers and the planters in the long term. The plants can grow more healthily. Their crops production will increase more in terms of quantity and quality which can be sold at least twice the cost of the crops grown chemically.
Organic farmers and planters can also save their land from damage. In fact if the land is managed properly, the organic farmers can reduce their fertilizer input year after year. Unlike the usage of chemical fertilizers which have to be increased year after year.
If farmers and planters recycled organic wastes and make their own fertilizers and compost, they can reduce their production cost even further.

For information regarding how to produce EM stock and organic fertilizer, please read the postings on this blog.

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