What are the harms of excessive fertilizer use?
Chemical fertilizer is certainly a very familiar type of fertilizer for growers. No matter what crop is being grown, applying a reasonable amount of chemical fertilizer is very helpful for its yield. However, many growers, in order to increase crop yields, blindly apply large amounts of chemical fertilizer, and doing so actually causes great harm. So what are the harms of excessive fertilizer use? Below, the editor will give everyone a brief introduction. Let's take a look together!
1. Deterioration of soil properties
When growing crops, if a large amount of a single-element chemical fertilizer is applied, its nutrients cannot be fully absorbed and utilized by the crops. Moreover, some common essential chemical substances in chemical fertilizers, such as nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, are also very easily fixed by the soil and transformed into various chemical salts. If they continue to accumulate in the soil, they can very easily lead to an imbalance in the soil's nutrient structure and worsen its physical properties, and the content of harmful metals and pathogens in some soils will also exceed standards. In addition, because chemical fertilizers do not contain organic matter or humus, the soil's aggregate structure will also be destroyed, and the soil will become compacted, which is very unfavorable for crop growth.
2. Decline in product quality
If a certain chemical fertilizer is applied in a large amount in a one-sided way, it can very easily lead to nutritional imbalance in crops. This affects the transformation and synthesis of substances within the crop, leading to a decline in crop quality. For example, some melons and fruits having insufficient sweetness and poor storability may all be caused by excessive chemical fertilizer application. This is because crop growth not only requires nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, but also various trace elements such as calcium, iron and zinc. Long-term single application of chemical fertilizer will certainly lead to an imbalance in the nutrient ratio in the soil, thereby causing a reduction in product quality.
3. Environmental pollution
Because too much chemical fertilizer is applied, some water-soluble nutrients in the soil are easily washed by rain and irrigation water and leached into rivers. This causes groundwater and rivers in some areas to be polluted, making them eutrophic, which is also very unfavorable for the growth of aquatic organisms. Moreover, the large-scale use of chemical fertilizers will also harm earthworms and various beneficial microorganisms in the soil, causing them to die. A certain nutrient element in the soil will also accumulate excessively, causing changes in the soil's physical and chemical properties, which is very unfavorable to its environment.
4. Large output-to-income ratio
When applying fertilizer, many growers in our country ignore the characteristics of the fertilizer and adopt traditional and simple fertilization methods such as flushing fertilizer with water and the one-shot application method. There is also a widespread phenomenon of excessive fertilization, causing growers' costs to continuously increase. Although yields will also rise somewhat, the phenomenon of increased output without increased income is very serious. Moreover, excessive application of a single chemical fertilizer will lead to an imbalance in the nutrient ratio and unbalanced nutrients, thereby producing a large amount of inferior products, which not only have low prices but also affect sales. In addition, too much chemical fertilizer will also lead to excessive nitrate content in vegetables, which very easily forms nitrite in the human body and poses a threat to human health.
The above is a brief introduction to the harms of excessive fertilizer use. That is all for today's introduction. This article is for reference only, and I hope it can help everyone!