Fertilizers – An Essential Ingredient for the Future

The dependence on fertilizers for supporting agriculture for the production of food, feed, fibre and fuel is well known. According to current estimates approximately 40% of the current crop production is due to the use of chemical fertilizers. With increasing population and with improved standard of living leading to protein rich diets, it is projected that world needs to produce 70% more crops by the year 2050. This will be a herculean task given limited arable land, climate change impacts and competing demands for water, making fertilizer usage as a major driver in achieving this goal.

Nitrogen, Phosphorous and Potash are the ‘’Primary’’ fertilizer nutrients which are needed in bulk quantities. Apart from these there are micronutrients, though needed in small quantities, nevertheless important for crop production. Naturally occurring minerals mined from various ore deposits supply most of the fertilizer nutrients except Nitrogen, which is abundant in air but is not easily assimilated by plants. Thus nitrogen is synthesised in the form of ammonia, which is the building block of Nitrogen fertilizer. The other primary nutrients, Phosphorous and Potash, which are sourced from underground mines are widely disbursed across the world.

Intensive cultivation has led to depletion of nutrients from…