Question

Give two examples of fertilizers.

Answer 1

A fertilizers are that substances that are natural or synthetic are applied to soil or the plants to supply the nutrients. Major nutrients needed by plants is nitrogen, potassium, and phosphorous. These fertilizers help in providing the plants with these major nutrients for their growth.

Complete answer:
The plant needs nutrient for their growth that is generally absorbed from the soil via the plant roots system. Fertilizers are given to the plants so that they get the major nutrient like potassium, nitrogen and phosphorous and another important secondary element that is generally needed for the plants to grow. If the nutrient content in the plant is replenished, the soil's productivity thus declines with each harvest.

Fertilizers are the chemical substance that is supplied to the crops so as to increase their productivity. They help the farmers to increase soil fertility that decreases with every harvest and also helps in enhancing the soil's water retention capacity. They may be natural or synthetic.

Earlier the fertilizers come from natural or organic sources such as compost, animal manure, harvest minerals and byproducts of human-nature industries. Later in the 19th century, after the innovation of plant nutrients, the agriculture industry started developing synthetic fertilizers. This transition played a major role in the global food system, allowing production on large scale with large crop yield.

Some of the examples of the fertilizers are:
- manure
- slurry
- seaweed
- NPK- Nitrogen phosphorous and potassium

Note: Excess use of fertilizers has led to a number of environmental consequences such as agricultural runoff that leads to downstream effects like ocean dead zones and waterway contamination. Many indirect impacts that it gives on the environment are environmental impacts of fracking of natural gas, agricultural bloom causing rapid growth in human population and many more.