Effects of Organic and Inorganic Fertilizer on Plants
Prepared by: Kem John B. Guiapal
I. Fertilizers
Fertilizers are added to crops to produce enough food to feed the human population. Fertilizers
provide crops with nutrients like potassium, phosphorus, and nitrogen, which allow crops to
grow bigger, faster, and to produce more food. Nitrogen in particular is an essential nutrient for
the growth of every organism on Earth. Nitrogen is all around us and makes up about 78% of the
air you breathe (Sedlacek et al., 2020). It is a vital component of food production; it is important
that fertilizer be used efficiently both to minimize food production costs and conserve natural
resources. This chapter, on efficient fertilizer use, relates concepts on uptake of nutrients from
the soil by plant roots to efficient use of nutrients added as fertilizers. The efficiency of uptake
reported for nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium agrees rather with the distance these nutrients
can diffuse to get to the plant root (Barber, 1976).
II. Organic Fertilizer
A. Benefits
Firstly, nutrients are soluble and immediately available to the plants; therefore, the effect is
usually direct and fast. Secondly, the price is lower and more competitive than organic fertilizer,
which makes it more acceptable and often applied by users (Chen, n.d.). Thirdly, organic
amendments increase soil carbon and nitrogen content, which results in enhanced soil fertility
and crop productivity and it is also eco-friendly and cost-effective (Singh et al., 2020). And
lastly, the use of organic fertilizers will improve the soil carbon status and soil quality which
help in improving, carbon sequestration. With the several advantages associated with organic
nutrient management, still proper demonstration, awareness, and training are required to
popularize among the farmers and to get the best benefit out of it (Verma et al., n.d.).
B. Harmful Effects
Organic fertilizers may contain pathogens that are harmful to humans or plants because organic
fertilizers are derived from a substance like animal feces or plant/animal matter contaminated
with pathogens. They are relatively low in nutrient content, so larger volume is needed to supply
enough nutrients for plant growth. Hence, large-scale agriculture without uses inorganic
fertilizers it is difficult (Bhatt et al., 2019).
III. Inorganic/ Artificial Fertilizers
A. Benefits
Artificial fertilizers preserve the health of the soil for the plants and improves plant quality and
growth in terms of leaf number, color, and aeration. Many farmers nowadays benefit from the
use of inorganic fertilizer in their production, particularly on harvesting day, when most of their
plants treated with inorganic fertilizer were found to be more plentiful than those that did not
receive the same treatment (Finez & Talimbay, 2023).
B. Harmful Effects
Over-application can result in negative effects such as leaching, pollution of water, acidification
and reduces the availability of the trace element or alkalization of the soil. Chemical fertilizer
enhances the decomposition of soil organic matter, which leads to degradation of soil structure
and decrease in soil aggregation results in nutrients are easily lost from soils through fixation,
leaching, gas emission and can lead to diminish fertilizer efficiency (Roba, 2018).
IV. Conclusion
All nutrients whether they originate from organic or inorganic forms go through the same
processes and transformations in the soil thus meaning that organic products when applied at
excessive rates can cause just as much harm to the environment as inorganic products (Jaja &
Barber, n.d.). Therefore, to ensure both the enhanced and sustainable agricultural production and
to safeguard the environment, integrated use of different types of nutrient suppliant such as
chemical fertilizer, organic manures, biofertilizers and other slow released or controlled released
fertilizers should be adopted (Chandini et al., n.d.).
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