News tagged with fertilizers
Model predicts 'religiosity gene' will dominate society
(PhysOrg.com) -- In the past 20 years, the Amish population in the US has doubled, increasing from 123,000 in 1991 to 249,000 in 2010. The huge growth stems almost entirely from the religious culture’s ...
Jan 28, 2011 |
2.8 / 5 (91) |
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Humanity falls deeper into ecological debt: study
Humankind will slip next week into ecological debt, having gobbled up in less then nine months more natural resources than the planet can replenish in a year, researchers said Tuesday.
Sep 20, 2011 |
4.3 / 5 (22) |
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Green super rice is coming
Rice bred to perform well in the toughest conditions where the poorest farmers grow rice is a step away from reaching farmers thanks to a major project led by the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences and the International ...
Jan 15, 2011 |
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Common nanoparticles found to be highly toxic to Arctic ecosystem
Queen's researchers have discovered that nanoparticles, which are now present in everything from socks to salad dressing and suntan lotion, may have irreparably damaging effects on soil systems and the environment.
Nanotechnology / Bio & Medicine
Apr 06, 2011 |
5 / 5 (9) |
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Crowded Earth: how many is too many?
Already straining to host seven billion souls, Earth is set to teem with billions more, and only a revolution in the use of resources can avert an environmental crunch, experts say.
Other Sciences / Social Sciences
Oct 23, 2011 |
4.2 / 5 (10) |
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Sexual reproduction works thanks to ever-evolving host, parasite relationships: study
(PhysOrg.com) -- It seems we may have parasites to thank for the existence of sex as we know it. Indiana University biologists have found that, although sexual reproduction between two individuals is costly ...
Jul 07, 2011 |
4.8 / 5 (8) |
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Fertilizer use responsible for increase in nitrous oxide in atmosphere
University of California, Berkeley, chemists have found a smoking gun proving that increased fertilizer use over the past 50 years is responsible for a dramatic rise in atmospheric nitrous oxide, which is a major greenhouse ...
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Apr 02, 2012 |
4.1 / 5 (9) |
5
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Researchers moving closer to a soluble solution to Haber-Bocsh process
(PhysOrg.com) -- The Haber-Bosch process, known throughout the world as the means by which ammonia is made for use in fertilizer, has been under study for at least as long as the agricultural revolution has ...
Nov 11, 2011 |
4.9 / 5 (7) |
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Clowning helps IVF patients become pregnant: study
(PhysOrg.com) -- Infertility researchers in Israel have found a 15-minute encounter with a clown immediately after fertility treatment dramatically increased the chances of a successful pregnancy.
Medicine & Health / Medical research
Jan 14, 2011 |
4.7 / 5 (7) |
7
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How many will we be? Are population estimates off the mark?
In 2011 the Earth's population will reach 7 billion. The United Nations (UN) reports that the total number of people will climb to 9 billion in 2050, peak at 9.5 billion, stabilize temporarily, and then decline. ...
Other Sciences / Social Sciences
Feb 20, 2011 |
3.6 / 5 (9) |
6
One-child policy yields multiple woes
China recently marked the 30th anniversary of the launch of its one-child-per-couple policy. Intended to curtail the nation’s burgeoning population, it has produced a serious gender imbalance, a ballooning ...
Jan 04, 2011 |
4.4 / 5 (7) |
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The green machine: Algae clean wastewater, convert to biodiesel
Let algae do the dirty work. Researchers at Rochester Institute of Technology are developing biodiesel from microalgae grown in wastewater. The project is doubly "green" because algae consume nitrates and phosphates and reduce ...
Technology / Energy & Green Tech
Feb 17, 2011 |
4.4 / 5 (7) |
6
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Diverse ecosystems are crucial climate change buffer
Preserving diverse plant life will be crucial to buffer the negative effects of climate change and desertification in in the world's drylands, according to a new landmark study.
Jan 12, 2012 |
4.3 / 5 (6) |
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Earth is having a bad acid trip, study finds
Earth may be overdosing on acid - not the "turn on, tune in, drop out" kind, but the "kill fish, kill coral, kill crops" kind. And it's shaping up to be a very bad trip.
Oct 03, 2011 |
5 / 5 (5) |
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Meat eating led to earlier weaning, helped humans spread across globe
When early humans became carnivores, their higher-quality diet allowed mothers to wean babies earlier and have more children, with potentially profound effects on population dynamics and the course of human evolution, according ...
Apr 18, 2012 |
4.2 / 5 (6) |
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Fertilizer
Fertilizer (or fertiliser) is any organic or inorganic material of natural or synthetic origin (other than liming materials) that is added to a soil to supply one or more plant nutrients essential to the growth of plants. A recent assessment found that about 40 to 60% of crop yields are attributable to commercial fertilizer use.
Mined inorganic fertilizers have been used for many centuries, whereas chemically synthesized inorganic fertilizers were only widely developed during the industrial revolution. Increased understanding and use of fertilizers were important parts of the pre-industrial British Agricultural Revolution and the industrial Green Revolution of the 20th century.
Inorganic fertilizer use has also significantly supported global population growth — it has been estimated that almost half the people on the Earth are currently fed as a result of synthetic nitrogen fertilizer use.
Fertilizers typically provide, in varying proportions:
The macronutrients are consumed in larger quantities and are present in plant tissue in quantities from 0.15% to 6.0% on a dry matter (0% moisture) basis (DM). Micronutrients are consumed in smaller quantities and are present in plant tissue on the order of parts per million (ppm), ranging from 0.15 to 400 ppm DM, or less than 0.04% DM.
Only three other macronutrients are required by all plants: carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen. These nutrients are supplied by water and carbon dioxide.
The nitrogen-rich fertilizer ammonium nitrate is also used as an oxidizing agent in improvised explosive devices, sometimes called fertilizer bombs, leading to sale regulations[citation needed].
For more information about Fertilizer, read the full article at
Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.
