Wheat waste: A phosphorus crisis?
Experiments published in Food and Energy Security by scientists at Queen Mary University of London and Royal Botanic Gardens suggest that we are globally wasting huge amounts of phosphorus.
Experiments published in Food and Energy Security by scientists at Queen Mary University of London and Royal Botanic Gardens suggest that we are globally wasting huge amounts of phosphorus.
Plants & Animals
Aug 5, 2024
0
17
Every year, Missouri farmers lose millions of dollars in valuable nutrients that wash away into rivers and lakes. These nutrients—nitrates and phosphates found in fertilizers—are crucial for plant growth, but they wreak ...
Biotechnology
Jul 22, 2024
0
20
In a recent article published in the journal Nature Plants, the authors used simulation experiments to show that nitrogen fertilization in wheat cultivation will have to increase up to fourfold in the coming years to exploit ...
Plants & Animals
Jul 11, 2024
0
45
For the residents of Maaden, a green oasis nestled in the depths of the vast Mauritanian desert, communal living, spirituality and sustainable agriculture are the keys to a harmonious existence.
Environment
Jul 11, 2024
0
0
Researchers in South Australia are digging deep into history of soil biology in the state to gain a better understanding of how the soil microbiome functions to ensure sustainable broadacre farming into the future.
Cell & Microbiology
Jul 10, 2024
0
0
Global water scarcity, a result of both quantity and quality change, challenges the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals. An international team of researchers has now developed a novel modeling approach to identify ...
Earth Sciences
Jul 8, 2024
0
42
Soil salinization poses a threat to global agricultural production, food security and sustainable development. Affected by China's population growth and social and economic development, China's arable land has been decreasing ...
Ecology
Jul 8, 2024
0
0
Humanity has made great strides in recent decades: air is cleaner; poverty, deforestation and childhood mortality have fallen; gasoline cars—and maybe coal—are on the way out.
Environment
Jul 7, 2024
0
61
New research published in npj Sustainable Agriculture reports that biomass made from the purple photosynthetic marine bacterium Rhodovulum sulfidophilum is an excellent nitrogen fertilizer.
Biotechnology
Jun 24, 2024
0
41
Redesigning the European food system will reduce agricultural land by 44% while dramatically reducing greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture by 70%. This reduction is possible with the current consumption of animal protein. ...
Ecology
Jun 21, 2024
0
113
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].
This text uses material from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA