Fertilizing crops has its own particularities: is it better to water first or fertilize first?

This question is quite interesting; in agricultural production, most farmers have probably rarely discussed it either. So should you water first or spread fertilizer first? From the perspective of fertilizer efficiency, it is naturally better to spread fertilizer first and then water, because only in this way can the fertilizer fully dissolve into the soil and allow the crops to absorb and use it as much as possible.

However, even watering first still has certain drawbacks. For example, after spreading fertilizer, volatilization of the fertilizer reduces fertilizer use efficiency. This is entirely possible. Therefore, in theory, based on the easy solubility of chemical fertilizers, if the field is relatively moist, spreading fertilizer and then watering once more is completely different. The first light watering can ensure that the chemical fertilizer dissolves into the soil and avoids volatilization, while the later heavy watering can ensure that the chemical fertilizer fully dissolves around the crop root zone, making it easy for the plants to absorb and use.

But in production it is not very realistic. After all, the above method is somewhat too labor-intensive and somewhat cumbersome. So even if this method is very effective, it probably would not be accepted by the vast number of farmers.

If the method of watering first and then spreading fertilizer is used, it may cause the chemical fertilizer to fail to fully dissolve, and the fertilizer loss caused in this way would instead be even greater. This is also why, when farmers consider broadcasting chemical fertilizer, they generally consider spreading it when it is about to rain or while it is raining, rather than spreading chemical fertilizer after the rain stops.

In summary, although everyone may understand the above reasoning, if you really ponder the reasoning behind it, it can indeed be confusing for a while. Of course, for farmer friends, as the saying goes, practice brings true knowledge. In the actual toil of agricultural production, a relatively complete fertilization plan has long been summarized, so naturally they would not adopt the measure of watering first and then spreading fertilizer. However, in agricultural production, spreading fertilizer while watering is no problem.

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