Fertilizer refers to a substance that can supply nutrients needed for crop growth, improve soil properties, and increase crop yield and quality. It is vital in agricultural production. Fertilizers are generally divided into organic fertilizers, inorganic fertilizers, and biological fertilizers. What is the difference between them? What effect do they play on plant growth?
Organic Fertilizer
Organic fertilizers are a type of fertilizer made from natural organic matter decomposed or fermented by microorganisms, such as manure, human feces, compost, biogas fertilizer, and waste fertilizer. This kind of fertilizer is wide in source and large in quantity, complete in nutrient, low in content, and slow and long in fertilizer effect. It must be decomposed and transformed by microorganisms before it can be absorbed by plants.
Inorganic fertilizer
Inorganic fertilizers are also called chemical fertilizers. The chemical fertilizer has a single composition, high effective ingredients, and is easily soluble in water. It decomposes quickly, and is easily absorbed by the root system. Inorganic fertilizers include nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, and compound fertilizers.
Nitrogen fertilizer: The average content of nitrogen in plants accounts for about 1.5% of the dry weight, and the content ranges from 0.3% to 5.0%. Generally focus on the most active parts of life activities (new leaves, meristems, reproductive organs). Therefore, the adequacy of nitrogen supply and the quality of plant nitrogen nutrition greatly affect the growth and development of plants.
The general manifestations of insufficient nitrogen nutrition are:
plants are short and thin;
the leaves are yellow-green, yellow-orange and other abnormal green colors, and the base leaves are gradually dry and withered;
the root system has few branches;
the tillers of cereal crops are significantly reduced, and even no tillers;
few branches, small spike shape；
significant premature aging and early maturity of crops
lower yield.
The general manifestations of excessive nitrogen nutrition of crops are:
excessive growth, continuous birth of axillary buds；
excessive tillers, which hinder the normal development of reproductive organs and delay maturity
leaves are dark green, stems and leaves are tender and juicy, and soluble non-protein nitrogen in the body
Phosphate fertilizer: Phosphorus is one of many important compounds in plants. Phosphorus is a component of nucleic acid nucleoproteins, and these are components of cell nuclei and various organelles. Therefore, phosphorus deficiency will inhibit the formation of new cells and result in stunted roots stunted and growth stagnation. Plant respiration, photosynthesis, etc. are inseparable from phosphorus. Phosphorus deficiency or insufficient phosphorus supply will affect and restrict the differentiation of flower buds, resulting in few inflorescences and poor flowering quality, which seriously affects yield.
When crops are deficient in phosphorus, they grow slowly with a short and thin appearance. Branches are few, and small leaves are easy to fall off. Phosphorus deficiency symptoms generally start from the old leaves at the base of the stem and gradually progress upward.
Excessive phosphorus nutrition will promote the respiration of crops to be too vigorous, and the dry matter consumed is greater than the accumulated dry matter, causing the reproductive organs to develop early, leading to premature crop maturity, small grains, and low yield.
Potassium fertilizer: The activation of enzymes is one of the most important functions of potassium in plant growth. It has been found that potassium is an activator of more than 60 enzymes. Therefore, potassium is closely related to many metabolic processes in plants.
Lack of potassium will cause the lower leaves of the plant to turn yellow, with dry edges. Brown spots often appear on the leaves, or even patches, but the middle of the leaves near the veins still maintain the original color.
Biological fertilizer
Biological fertilizer refers to a type of fertilizer product that takes the life activities of microorganisms as the core and enables crops to obtain specific fertilizer effects. In a narrow sense, microbial fertilizer refers to the increase in the supply of plant nutrients through the life activities of microorganisms, including increasing the total supply of plant nutrients in the soil and production environment, resulting in an improvement in plant nutrition and an increase in yield. The representative variety of microbial fertilizers is rhizobia fertilizer. The broad-based microbial fertilizer refers to the life activities of microorganisms in it, which can not only increase the supply of plant nutrients, but also produce plant growth hormones, and promote plant nutrition. The absorption and utilization of gluten may antagonize the pathogenic effect of certain pathogenic microorganisms, reduce crop diseases and insect pests and promote the increase of crop yield.
