Proper fertilizer storage matters: fertilizer and pesticides should not be kept in living rooms

After the responsibility system was implemented in rural areas, chemical fertilizers stored in farmers' homes often absorb moisture and cake together because of improper storage, and can even prevent seeds from germinating normally. So how should fertilizer be stored properly? Why should chemical fertilizers and pesticides not be kept in living rooms?

When storing chemical fertilizers properly, the “six precautions” should be observed:

① Prevent mixed storage. When chemical fertilizers are stored mixed together, the fertilizer efficiency is easily reduced. 

For example, ammonium nitrogen fertilizers such as ammonium sulfate and ammonium chloride, when they come into contact with alkaline substances such as plant ash and lime, will cause loss of ammonia through volatilization. Water-soluble phosphate fertilizers such as superphosphate and ammonium phosphate, when they come into contact with alkaline substances, will have their phosphorus availability reduced;

② Prevent labels from being misleading. Some farmers use compound fertilizer bags to hold urea, some use urea bags to hold compound fertilizer or ammonium sulfate, and others use imported compound fertilizer bags to hold special-purpose fertilizer. This makes mistakes very likely during use. For example, a farmer, when planting soybeans, mixed phosphate fertilizer for seed dressing and mistakenly used cement instead of calcium magnesium phosphate fertilizer. As a result, the soybeans were put into a “cement house”, which was not breathable or permeable to water, and the soybeans could not germinate or emerge;

③ Prevent broken bags and packaging. Nitrate nitrogen fertilizers are highly hygroscopic. After absorbing water, they turn into a paste, or even a liquid, so they should be stored sealed. Generally, ceramic containers such as jars or earthenware pots are used for storage, with lids tightly closed; they can also be stored in two plastic bags with the openings tightly sealed. After ammonium bicarbonate absorbs moisture, the loss of ammonia through volatilization speeds up. After superphosphate absorbs moisture, it not only easily cakes, making application inconvenient, but also causes phosphorus degradation, reducing the available phosphorus content;

④ Prevent fire, especially for nitrate nitrogen fertilizers such as potassium nitrate. At high temperature (200°C) they decompose and release oxygen, and when exposed to open flame they will burn or explode;

⑤ Prevent corrosion. Superphosphate contains free acid, while ammonium bicarbonate is alkaline. These chemical fertilizers should not come into direct contact with metal containers or scales, so as to avoid corrosion;

⑥ Prevent fertilizer from being stored mixed with seeds and food. In particular, highly volatile ammonium bicarbonate mixed with seeds will affect germination, and full attention should be paid to this. 

Appendix: Why should chemical fertilizers and pesticides not be kept in living rooms? 

Some chemical fertilizers and pesticides are unstable in nature, and the gases they release during storage can harm human health. Ammonium bicarbonate in chemical fertilizers is volatile and very easily releases ammonia gas. According to research, frequent stimulation of the eyes by ammonia gas can cause chemical burns to the eyes. In mild cases, it causes irritation symptoms such as photophobia, tearing and pain. In severe cases, in addition to the above symptoms, it also damages eye tissues, especially the cornea. If a person lives in an ammonia gas environment for a long time, it can cause pharyngitis, rhinitis, tracheitis, pneumonia and respiratory tract burns. Pesticides can not only poison people, but most pesticides also have a fumigating effect. Their harmful gases can enter the human blood through the respiratory tract, skin, digestive tract and other routes, pass through tissue cell membranes, and cause poisoning reactions in the liver, kidneys, heart and other parts. Some can also cause cancer, and the harm to pregnant women and the next generation is even greater.