Organic vs Chemical – Benefits of Organic-based Fertilizers

Nowadays, there is now a wide array of fertilizers – chemical, organic, and natural – available in the market. Did you know, though, that the classification of fertilizer you utilize has a large impact on the quality of your product?
Among the three kinds of fertilizers available, organic ones enhance the productivity and growth quality of plants thanks to their being carbon-based compounds. So even if most farmers are using chemical-based fertilizers, some are starting to use organic ones due to the evident benefits they bring.
Toxic-free foods
The use of these organic-based fertilizers makes sure that the food items manufactured are free from any harmful chemicals that lead to serious health problems when consumed.
As a result, the end consumer who buys and consumes these organic products is less prone to diseases such as cancer, strokes and skin disorders. These three are in fact more likely to happen in people who eat food grown using chemical fertilizers.
Promotes soil fertility
Organic-based fertilizers make sure that farms remain fertile for more generations. The sites of ancient civilizations in China and India have soil that is still fertile even after thousands of years. Therefore, the use of fertilizers manufactured organically will leave the soil fertile for longer periods of time.
On the other hand, chemical fertilizers only promote infertility in the soil and eventually leave it to die (be unproductive) in a short span of time.
Promotes a safe environment
Organic fertilizer is easily biodegradable and they don’t cause destruction to the environment. On the other hand, chemical fertilizers only contaminate both the earth and the water supply, which can lead to serious environmental problems and serious health issues.
In addition, chemical fertilizers are the main cause of extinction of a number of plants, animals and insect species.
These are just some of the benefits you get to experience when you opted to use organic-based fertilizers. However, you may not be entirely convinced of the above stated facts and still want to use chemical-based fertilizers. Here are some disadvantages that you may want to know about:
They destroy the friability of soil
Chemical fertilizers contain both sulfuric and hydrochloric acids. These acids are known to be materials that hold rock particles together and keep them intact. While they do help plants to grow, they do absolutely nothing to improve soil fertility.
Instead, they tend to damage the soil as the traces of nutrients in the soil aren’t replenished since the soil loses the ability to crumble and let in air. In addition, rain water won’t be able to enter the soil if these materials are present.
They affect the micro-organisms living in the soil
The acidity of chemical fertilizers can greatly affect the soils pH levels, therefore, altering the kinds of microorganisms that can live in the soil.
Using chemical fertilizers for a long period of time upsets the natural pH balance in the soil. It also causes an increase in pests and does away with the beneficial microbes in the soil. These microbes are the ones that provide natural immunity to the plants from diseases and without it, your plants are sure to die.
They leach into your groundwater without fully benefiting the plant
Highly soluble fertilizer has the power to quickly dissolve in soil. Since plants can only absorb a specific amount of nutrition at a time, much of the fertilizer leaches away easily.
Not only is this leaching detrimental to the groundwater, they also seep deep into the subsoil. Once there, they interact with the clay in the soil, forming an impermeable layer called “hardpan” Money is wasted, soil conditions are undermined and plants don’t receive nourishment.
Overall, when growing organic food , it needs to be done naturally without the use of chemical-based materials. Not only will you have foods that will taste great, you’ll be free from the possibilities of getting serious illnesses as an aftermath.

By kalpona Banu