What is the difference between organic fertilizer and chemical fertilizer, and can they be mixed for use?
Organic fertilizer is rich in various organic matter and microorganisms, and has a very good effect on building soil fertility and improving the quality of agricultural products. However, at present, the promotion of organic fertilizer is difficult, and most farmers are accustomed to using chemical fertilizer. What exactly is the difference between organic fertilizer and chemical fertilizer? And can they be mixed for use?
1. Multiple factors affect the use of organic fertilizer
(1) Some farmers say they “do not know how to use it.” After applying chemical fertilizer for so many years, yields have risen rapidly, and switching to organic fertilizer leaves them unsure, as old habits cannot be changed just because one wants to.
(2) Some farmers say they “are unwilling to use it.” Composting organic fertilizer, crushing, stirring, and piling it for fermentation is dirty and smelly, labor-intensive and time-consuming, while chemical fertilizer is much less troublesome, as one can just go to the agricultural supply store and haul back a few bags.
(3) Some farmers say they “dare not use it.” Organic fertilizer is not strong enough, takes effect slowly, has high application costs, and may even affect yields in the short term.
Farmers calculate the “economic account,” while agricultural development must also calculate the “ecological account.” Fertilizer is the “food” of grain, and only with balanced nutrition can crops grow robustly. However, at present, on the one hand, the structure of agricultural fertilizer is unbalanced, with emphasis on chemical fertilizer and neglect of organic fertilizer. China ranks first in the world in both the production and consumption of chemical fertilizer, and the average amount of chemical fertilizer per mu is far higher than the world average. This has not only led to the loss of soil nutrients and severe soil hardening, but has also brought hidden dangers to the quality and safety of agricultural products. On the other hand, a large amount of organic fertilizer resources has not yet been effectively utilized. The actual utilization rate of various organic fertilizer resources in China is less than 40%. For example, the total amount of livestock and poultry breeding waste is about 3.8 billion tons, 40% of which has not been effectively treated and utilized, and the annual output of straw is 900 million tons, of which more than 200 million tons are not utilized. This has not only caused agricultural non-point source pollution, but also wasted the “other half” of rural resources.
2. Promoting organic fertilizer requires efforts from multiple sides
At present, the hard constraints of agricultural resources and the environment are tightening, and adjusting the mode of production is imperative. The No. 1 Central Document points out that we should deeply advance the action of zero growth in chemical fertilizer, carry out pilot projects to replace chemical fertilizer with organic fertilizer, and promote cost savings and efficiency gains in agriculture. The Ministry of Agriculture also proposed to achieve this goal by 2020. The promotion and application of organic fertilizer brook no delay.
(1) In promoting organic fertilizer, enterprises are very important
Although the market potential of organic fertilizer is huge, many production enterprises are small in scale and have a single product structure, and their market competitiveness is weak compared with chemical fertilizer products. This requires organic fertilizer enterprises to work hard on their internal strengths, improve process equipment, enhance quality, unify product standards, and cultivate well-known fertilizer brands. For example, some enterprises have explored composite products that rationally combine organic fertilizer and chemical fertilizer to make up for the shortcoming of slow effectiveness. At the same time, the government should strengthen policy support, introduce preferential policies on land use, electricity use, processing, and transportation, and help enterprises grow rapidly. In response to technical difficulties existing in links such as the production and use of organic fertilizer, scientific research and teaching institutions should be organized to jointly tackle key technologies.
(2) In promoting organic fertilizer, farmers must accept it
Only when farmers see tangible benefits will they truly accept new things. New types of business entities have the capability, technology, and demand, so the “leading goose” role of new types of entities should be fully brought into play, with capable people trying first and exploring experience that can be promoted. In response to the problem of rural “hollowing out,” the method of government purchasing services can be adopted to give play to the role of socialized service organizations. Technical specifications and standards should be formulated, and guidance services for farmers should be strengthened.
(3) To accelerate the promotion and application of organic fertilizer, efforts must be made at both the supply and demand ends, recovering the “other half” of rural resources, making the rural environment more beautiful and giving agricultural production more staying power.
3. The difference between organic fertilizer and chemical fertilizer
(1) Organic fertilizer contains a large amount of organic matter and has an obvious effect on improving soil and building fertility, while chemical fertilizer can only provide inorganic nutrients, and long-term use causes adverse effects on the soil, making the soil more and more demanding.
(2) Organic fertilizer has low nutrient content and requires large amounts to be applied deeply, while chemical fertilizer has high nutrient content and requires small amounts.
(3) Organic fertilizer has a long fertilizer effect, while chemical fertilizer has a short and fierce fertilizer effect. It easily causes nutrient loss.
(4) Organic fertilizer contains a large number of beneficial microorganisms, which can promote the biological transformation process in the soil and continuously improve soil fertility, while chemical fertilizer inhibits the activity of microorganisms, leading to a decline in the soil's automatic regulation ability. (
4. The benefits of mixed application
(1) Chemical fertilizer has high nutrient content and fast fertilizer effect, but its duration is short and its nutrients are single. Organic fertilizer is exactly the opposite. Mixing organic fertilizer with chemical fertilizer can make up for each other's shortcomings and meet the crop's nutrient needs at various growth stages.
(2) After chemical fertilizer is applied to the soil, some nutrients are absorbed or fixed by the soil, reducing the effectiveness of the nutrients. When mixed with farmyard manure, however, the contact surface between chemical fertilizer and soil can be reduced, the probability of chemical fertilizer being fixed by the soil can be reduced, and the effectiveness of nutrients can be improved.
(3) Generally, chemical fertilizer has high solubility, and after application it creates a relatively high osmotic pressure on the soil, affecting the crop's absorption of nutrients and water and increasing the chance of nutrient loss. If it is mixed with organic fertilizer, this drawback can be overcome, and the crop's absorption of nutrients and water can be promoted.
(4) If acidic chemical fertilizer alone is applied to alkaline soil, after ammonium is absorbed by plants, the remaining acid radical combines with hydrogen ions in the soil to form acid, which will lead to increased acidity and intensified soil hardening. If it is mixed with organic fertilizer, the soil's buffering capacity can be improved, the pH can be effectively regulated, and the soil acidity will not increase.
(5) Because organic fertilizer is an energy source for the life of microorganisms, while chemical fertilizer is inorganic nutrition supplied for the growth and development of microorganisms. Mixing the two can promote the vitality of microorganisms and further promote the decomposition of organic fertilizer. The activity of soil microorganisms can also produce vitamins, biotin, nicotinic acid, and so on, increasing soil nutrients, improving soil vitality, and promoting crop growth.
At present, for organic fertilizer, farmers not knowing how to use it, being unwilling to use it, and not daring to use it have become the bottleneck restricting its use, and in promotion and application, it is difficult to make efforts at both the supply and demand ends, which has also become an important factor limiting the development of organic fertilizer. In the past, every household made farmyard manure from human and livestock excrement and made compost from straw, but now, in many rural areas, organic fertilizer is hard to find. Everyone knows that for a long time we have cultivated only with chemical fertilizer, causing many problems in the soil today. In serious cases, it has even harmed our living environment. At present, China strongly advocates increasing the application of organic fertilizer, that is, fertilization should be carried out with organic fertilizer combined with inorganic fertilizer. If you are not used to switching to organic fertilizer all at once, then try mixing organic fertilizer and chemical fertilizer for use!