INORGANIC FERTILIZERS
Hello, warmly welcome to Ghanafarms - the number one agricultural blogspot site in the country. In our last episode we talked about ways to replenish the nutrients in our soils so that we have a bumper harvest. Great, today we are looking at inorganic fertilizers since that is easiest and fastest way of replenishing the lost nutrients in our fields.What is inorganic fertilizer
Inorganic fertilizer in its simplest meaning is the synthetically combination of two or more mineral elements considered essential to plant growth and development. Thus, fertilizers are mineral elements that are produced in the factories which plants need in order to grow and develop well. There are many mineral elements that are used in the preparation of inorganic fertilizers. These mineral elements are required by plants in different proportions. There are some which are required by plants in large quantities - term macro mineral elements or nutrients. These minerals or nutrients play major role in the growth and development of plants. Below are some of the examples of macro nutrients:
Nitrogen (N)
Phosphorus (P)
Potassium (K)
Magnesium (Mg)
Sulphur (S).
There are other mineral elements that plants required in small amount or quantities - term micro mineral elements or nutrients. Although plants need these mineral elements in small amount without their presence in the soil the growth and development of the plants would be hampered. These mineral elements or nutrients include the following:
Boron (B)
Iron (Fe)
Manganese (Mn)
Copper (Cu)
Zinc (Zn)
Molybdenum (Mo)
Chloride (Cl)
Nickel (Ni)
From the above explanation, one can say that an inorganic fertilizer can be one of the above mineral element. Most often the fertilizers farmers normally used are mainly combination of of either two or more of the macro or micro mineral elements or nutrients. Hence, 100 kg of fertilizer label N. P. K 23:15:15 means that, the fertilizer contains 23 % of N, 15 % of P and 15 % of K in that 100 kg bag.
Every mineral element or nutrient has a special role its plays in the soil for plant growth. The deficiency of a mineral element or nutrient in the soil results in poor growth and development of the plant and in extreme deficiencies death of the plant can occur. In a situation where the concentration of the mineral elements or nutrients are in excess, the yield of the plant is disturbed. Moreover, it causes the imbalance in the other nutrients available. Thus, in any commercial production of any plant or crop, soil analysis must be conducted to find out the nutrients the field is lacking and those in adequate proportion before any mineral element can be added. Therefore, it is bad practice to walk to any agronomic store to purchase any fertilizer and apply it on the field without adequate information of the field.
Nitrogen (N)
 |
| Nitrogen |
Phosphorus (P)
 |
| Phosphorus |
Potassium (K)
 |
| Potassium |
`
Calcium (Ca) |
| Calcium |
 |
| Magnesium |
 |
| Sulphur |
There are other mineral elements that plants required in small amount or quantities - term micro mineral elements or nutrients. Although plants need these mineral elements in small amount without their presence in the soil the growth and development of the plants would be hampered. These mineral elements or nutrients include the following:
Boron (B)
 |
| Boron |
Iron (Fe)
 |
| Iron |
Manganese (Mn)
 |
| Manganese |
Copper (Cu)
 |
| Copper |
Zinc (Zn)
 |
| Zinc |
Molybdenum (Mo)
 |
| Molybdenum |
 |
| Chloride |
 |
| Nickel |
From the above explanation, one can say that an inorganic fertilizer can be one of the above mineral element. Most often the fertilizers farmers normally used are mainly combination of of either two or more of the macro or micro mineral elements or nutrients. Hence, 100 kg of fertilizer label N. P. K 23:15:15 means that, the fertilizer contains 23 % of N, 15 % of P and 15 % of K in that 100 kg bag.
Every mineral element or nutrient has a special role its plays in the soil for plant growth. The deficiency of a mineral element or nutrient in the soil results in poor growth and development of the plant and in extreme deficiencies death of the plant can occur. In a situation where the concentration of the mineral elements or nutrients are in excess, the yield of the plant is disturbed. Moreover, it causes the imbalance in the other nutrients available. Thus, in any commercial production of any plant or crop, soil analysis must be conducted to find out the nutrients the field is lacking and those in adequate proportion before any mineral element can be added. Therefore, it is bad practice to walk to any agronomic store to purchase any fertilizer and apply it on the field without adequate information of the field.
Examples of Inorganic Fertilizers
Below are examples of commonly used fertilizers.
- Ammonium sulphate
Ammonium sulphate
- Ammonium phosphate
Ammonium phosphate
- Ammonium nitrate
Ammonium nitrate - Superphosphate
Superphosphate - Triple superphosphate
Triple superphosphate - Potassium chloride
Potassium chloride - Potassium sulphate
Potassium phosphate - Calcium phosphate.
Calcium phosphate
Great, in our next episode these mineral elements will be discuss thoroughly; their functions in the soil so far as the growth and development of the plant is concern. Also their deficiency symptoms will be critically look at. Thank you so much for taking the pain to read this article. Do not hesitate to come over to read our next episode. Do share this article on any of the social network platform floating on the sidebar of the site with friends and family. This year Ghanafarms is encouraging all and sundry to go into farming been it backyard farming or full time farming to help solve unemployment in the country. Free ebook on maize production will be given to our cherished readers before the end of the month to kick start the season. It is also our hope that Ghanafarms will see some changes by upgrading from blogspot .com status to full .com that is Ghanafarms.com by the end of the year.
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