Fertilizers
Fertilizers are mined or manufactured
commercial products which contain one or more plant nutrients in an applicable
amount and in a readily usable form. Fertilizers have the advantage of easy in
storage, transport and handling.
Fertilizers mainly applied through soil application, foliar spray and fertigation method. Before going for fertilizer application field soil testing should be done for proper fertilizer dose calculation.
Types of fertilizers
Fertilizers are classified based on
types nutrient availability on them, and its requirement by plants and its
nature of origin i.e organic or inorganic.
17 Essential plant nutrients.
1. Primary Nutrients
Based on single or multi-nutrient availability by
fertilizers, it is classified into Straight and Complex fertilizers.
❏ Straight fertilizers
Straight fertilizers supply only one primary
plant nutrient, namely nitrogen or phosphorus or potassium.
Nitrogenous fertilizers
Nitrogenous fertilizers are classified into 4
groups based on the chemical form of nitrogen present in them.
Types of nitrogen fertilizers are as follows:
Ammoniacal fertilizers
●
Ammoniacal fertilizers contain
nitrogen in the form of ammonium ion (NH4+).
● The ammonium form of nitrogen is directly taken up by Rice and Sugarcane.
● The ammoniacal fertilizers may
produce soil
acidity which are to be corrected by Liming.
● These types of fertilizers do not leach out easily.
● Commonly used ammoniacal
fertilizer types are Ammonium sulphate and Ammonium chloride.
Nitrate fertilizers
● Nitrate fertilizers contain
nitrogen in the form of the nitrate ion (NO3- ).
● Nitrogen is easily taken up by
plants in this nitrate form.
● The nitrate fertilizers are alkaline
in nature.
● These types of fertilizers leach out easily.
● Commonly used nitrate fertilizer
types are Sodium nitrate, calcium nitrate.
● But these fertilizers may not be available in India at
present.
Ammoniacal and nitrate fertilizers
● Some fertilizers contain both
ammoniacal and nitrate forms of nitrogen.
● Nitrate nitrogen helps in readily
available to plants for immediate need and ammoniacal nitrogen available to
plants at later state after it is converted into nitrate form.
● Some commonly available fertilizer
types in this group are Ammonium nitrate, Ammonium sulphate nitrate and Calcium
ammonium nitrate.
● Ammonium nitrate and Ammonium sulphate nitrate
may not be available in India at present.
● Calcium ammonium nitrate (CAN) is a popularly
used fertilizer and also available in India.
Amide fertilizers
●
Amide fertilizers contain nitrogen
in amide form, and it is not directly available to plants.
● After being soluble in water and
by bacterial action, the amide nitrogen is converted into ammoniacal form and
then into nitrate form.
● UREA is the most commonly available amide
fertilizer.
Phosphatic fertilizers (P)
Types of phosphatic fertilizers are as follows:
Single superphosphate
● It contains 17 per cent
phosphate(P2O5) in
available form.
● It should be applied at the time
of sowing
or transplanting.
● The SSP also contains Calcium(21%)
and sulphur(11%) and few micronutrients also,
so it is useful for
oilseed crops for better production.
● It is a grey ash-like powder with
good storage qualities.
● Phosphatic fertilizers should be
applied near the root zone, as they can not move readily in soil.
Triple superphosphate
●
The concentrated superphosphate is
called Triple superphosphate.
● It
contains 46 per cent phosphate.
● In acid soils, it should be used
in mixing with organic manure.
● At present the fertilizer may not be available in India.
Dicalcium Phosphate
● It is suitable for acid soils and
also for long duration crops like sugarcane.
● It contains about 35 per cent
phosphate.
● This fertilizer may not be
available in India.
Potassic fertilizers (K)
● Potassic fertilizer is obtained by
mining and purification of natural deposits containing potassium salts.
● They are totally soluble in water
and readily available for plants.
Types of potassic fertilizers commonly used in India are
as follows:
Potassium Chloride
● It is also called muriate of potash.
● The colour of fertilizer grade
ranges from white to red.
● As per fertilizer control order(FCO), India, it should contain a
minimum of 60 per cent potash.
● It is completely water-soluble and
does not produce any acidity or alkalinity in the soil.
● The fertilizer should be applied
at the time of sowing. In light soil, it should be applied in split doses.
● It can be applied to all crops, except
Tobacco and Potato as it affects the crop quality. for these crops,
potassium sulphate would be better.
Potassium Sulphate
● It is white crystalline salt and
as per FCO, it should contain a minimum of 50 per cent potash.
● It is also completely water
soluble and does not produce any acidity or alkalinity in the soil.
● Suitable for all crops.
❏ Complex Fertilizers
● Complex fertilizers contain two or
more plant nutrients, of which two major nutrients are in chemical combination.
● Complex fertilizers are generally
granular in structure.
● They have relatively higher total
nutrient content than straight fertilizers.
Types of fertilizers available in India under primary nutrients are as follows:
2. Secondary Nutrients
Calcium, Magnesium and
Sulphur are popularly known as secondary
nutrients because of their requirements being less than that of primary
nutrients. Deficiency of these nutrients reduces the efficiency of primary
nutrients (NPK).
Some Popular fertilizers available in this category are listed below.
3. Micronutrients
Micronutrients are a
group of nutrients which are essential for plant growth but are required by
plants in small quantities.
Some Popular fertilizers available in this category are listed below.
For online purchase of fertilizers : www.iffcobazar.in
*Above recommendations are for information purpose only. Follow proper soil test and other plant requirement criteria and local agriculture officer's guidance before application to crop.
Conclusion
Hope the article can
give a brief idea about different types of fertilizers and its
application for better crop growth and productivity. If you like the article please give your valuable comments and follow the site for more updates.
1 Comments
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