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The Conquest of Hunger Featuring Prosper Plenty and His Magic Chemicals. Front cover of a National Fertilizer Association pamphlet from 1951.
Learn how the rising cost of fertilizer may accidentally be a good thing for the environment.
Excerpt from this story from Treehugger:
Fertilizer is fascinating. Most know it increases the fertility of soil when growing plants and crops. Few know that when we eat food made with fertilizer, we're basically eating fossil fuels. I noted in my book, "Living the 1.5 Degree Lifestyle," "Fertilizer is made from ammonia, which is made from hydrogen, which is made from natural gas. That makes it a fossil fuel product; so when we eat food made with nitrogen fertilizers, we are essentially eating fossil fuels."
Now, the cost of fertilizer is skyrocketing and driving up food prices. Increases in natural gas prices caused by Russia's war on Ukraine were always going to translate into increased food costs because Russia supplied 22.4% of fertilizer imported into the U.S. Plus, there's the equipment.1 According to Financial Times, "The price of diesel, which farmers need to fuel their tractors, trucks and harvesters, has soared to almost $5 a gallon."
But one should always look on the bright side of life, as Bloomberg journalists are doing in a recent article, "The Fertilizer Shock Might Change Agriculture—For the Better." They describe how bad the situation is with shortages and price increases of as much as 22% and write:
"Amid such dire predictions, it may sound callous to talk of silver linings. Yet the fertilizer shock of 2022 could ultimately end up paying dividends similar to those of the twin oil shocks of the 1970s. The Arab oil embargo brought the U.S. economy to its knees, but it also kick-started an energy conservation drive that reshaped the American auto and building industries, to name but two. Under pressure from Asian competitors, Detroit’s Big Three introduced more compact, fuel-efficient cars. Meanwhile, advances in lighting, insulation, and appliances reduced home energy use."
Bloomberg suggests that as fertilizer gets more expensive, farmers will use it more carefully and waste less of it. More farmers are testing soil and doing "precision agriculture."
There are many benefits of reducing fertilizer. There is a huge problem of nutrient pollution—the excess nitrogen and phosphorus in bodies of water that comes mainly from agricultural runoff. There are the carbon dioxide emissions from the manufacture of ammonia, estimated between 1% and 1.8% of global emissions.2 Bloomberg also notes that "microbes present in soil break down fertilizer, releasing nitrous oxide into the atmosphere, which pound for pound has 300 times the planet-warming impact of CO2."
Banana Peel Fertilizer | Easy and Free Fertilizer for Plants
Nitrogen is a key nutrient that helps plants and livestock grow, but it escapes readily into the environment.
These infographics tell us about the problem with the use of excessive nitrogen fertilizer:
Dead zones formed annually in the Gulf of Mexico.
Anhydrous Ammonia for Efficient Farm Fertilization
Anhydrous ammonia is a key input in Indian agriculture, helping farmers improve soil nitrogen levels and achieve better crop productivity season after season. Unlike surface-applied granular fertilizers, it is injected below the soil surface, which prevents nitrogen loss due to runoff or evaporation and improves overall fertilizer efficiency. Large-scale farming operations, sugarcane plantations, and fertilizer manufacturers across India trust Mysore Ammonia as their reliable source of high-quality anhydrous ammonia.
Aqueous Ammonia Helps Farmers Boost Crop Health
Sustainable agriculture demands inputs that are both effective and economically viable - aqueous ammonia checks both boxes as a liquid nitrogen fertilizer with a proven field record. When applied correctly, it enriches soil health over repeated seasons, reducing the need for heavier chemical interventions. Mysore Ammonia Pvt. Ltd. supports sustainable farming operations nationwide with high-purity aqueous ammonia and expert supply reliability.
The main purpose of this investigation was to evaluate the impact of nitrogen fertilizer and spraying with blue green algae extract levels on the productivity of maize. Two field experiments were conducted at private farm at Algraydh Village, Bialla district, Kafrelshiekh Governorate, Egypt during 2017 and 2018 seasons. The treatments were allocated in a strip-plot design with four replications. The vertical-plots were devoted to nitrogen fertilizer levels (60, 80, 100 and 120kgN fed-1). While, the horizontal-plots were assigned to spraying with blue green algae levels (without as control, 1.5, 3.0, 4.5 and 6.0g L-1). Increasing fertilizer levels up to 120kg N fed-1 significantly exceeded other levels of nitrogen fertilizer and produced the highest averages of growth characters, yield and grain quality, followed by using 100kg N fed-1 and there is no significant differences between them in most studied growth characters and yields in both seasons. Foliar spraying with 6.0g L-1 significantly surpassed other treatments and recorded the maximum averages of growth, yield and its components and grains quality of maize, followed by spraying plants with 4.5g L-1 and without significant differences between them in all studied characters in both seasons. Generally, mineral fertilizing maize with 100kgN fed‑1 (saved 20kgN fed‑1) beside spraying with algae extract at 4.5g L-1 were recommended for enhancing productivity and seed quality of maize moreover, reducing the pollution resulted from high levels of mineral nitrogen fertilizer under the environmental conditions of Kafrelshiekh Governorate Egypt.
The main purpose of this investigation was to evaluate the impact of nitrogen fertilizer and spraying with blue green algae extract levels on the productivity of maize. Two field experiments were conducted at private farm at Algraydh Village, Bialla district, Kafrelshiekh Governorate, Egypt during 2017 and 2018 seasons. The treatments were allocated in a strip-plot design with four replications. The vertical-plots were devoted to nitrogen fertilizer levels (60, 80, 100 and 120kgN fed-1). While, the horizontal-plots were assigned to spraying with blue green algae levels (without as control, 1.5, 3.0, 4.5 and 6.0g L-1). Increasing fertilizer levels up to 120kg N fed-1 significantly exceeded other levels of nitrogen fertilizer and produced the highest averages of growth characters, yield and grain quality, followed by using 100kg N fed-1 and there is no significant differences between them in most studied growth characters and yields in both seasons. Foliar spraying with 6.0g L-1 significantly surpassed other treatments and recorded the maximum averages of growth, yield and its components and grains quality of maize, followed by spraying plants with 4.5g L-1 and without significant differences between them in all studied characters in both seasons. Generally, mineral fertilizing maize with 100kgN fed‑1 (saved 20kgN fed‑1) beside spraying with algae extract at 4.5g L-1 were recommended for enhancing productivity and seed quality of maize moreover, reducing the pollution resulted from high levels of mineral nitrogen fertilizer under the environmental conditions of Kafrelshiekh Governorate Egypt.
