What happens when farmers use too much fertilizer?

What happens when farmers use too much fertilizer?

Excess fertilizer alters the soil by creating too high of a salt concentration, and this can hurt beneficial soil microorganisms. Over- fertilization can lead to sudden plant growth with an insufficient root system to supply adequate water and nutrients to the plant.

What is the effect of chemical fertilizers used excessively on the soil?

consumption increased exponentially throughout the world, causes serious environmental problems. Fertilization may affect the accumulation of heavy metals in soil and plant system. Plants absorb the fertilizers through the soil, they can enter the food chain. Thus, fertilization leads to water, soil and air pollution.

How does using fertilizer affect the fertility of soil?

Fertilizer application can affect surface soil pH. The nitrification process, which converts ammonium-nitrogen (NH4+-N) to nitrate-nitrogen (NO3-N) results in release of hydrogen ions (H+), which can decrease soil pH causing soil acidification.

Is chemical fertilizer bad for the soil?

To grow, plants require nitrogen compounds from the soil, which can be produced naturally or be provided by fertilizers. However, applying excessive amounts of fertilizer leads to the release of harmful greenhouse gases into the atmosphere and the eutrophication of our waterways.

Why do farmers use chemical fertilizers?

Fertilisers provide elements needed by plants to grow well, such as nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. They can make crops grow faster and bigger so that yields are increased. The compounds used must be water-soluble so plants can absorb them through their roots.

What will happen if you are using excessive fertilizers in the land?

Excessive use of chemical fertilizers causes environmental pollution both at the manufacturing and application sites. When water soluble nitrogen fertilizers are applied to the soil, a good portion of added nutrients does not become available to the plants, but is lost to the ground water through leaching or run off.

What are the chemical effects of chemical fertilizers?

Though chemical fertilizers increase crop production; their overuse has hardened the soil, decreased fertility, strengthened pesticides, polluted air and water, and released greenhouse gases, thereby bringing hazards to human health and environment as well.

What are the disadvantages of using chemical fertilizers?

●With long-term and large-scale use of chemical fertilizer, some environment issues will appear, such as soil acidification and crust. Because of using quantities of nitrogen fertilizer, instead of organic fertilizer, some tropical farmland is in severe soil crust, leading to ultimately lost the farming value.

What is the friability effect of fertilizer?

Soil Friability Effect. These mineral rich soil crumbs are essential to soil drainage and greatly improve air circulation in the soil. As the chemicals in the chemical fertilizers destroy soil crumbs, the result is a highly compacted soil with reduced drainage and air circulation.

How do fertilizers cause soil acidification?

The over-use of chemical fertilizers can lead to soil acidification because of a decrease in organic matter in the soil. Nitrogen applied to fields in large amounts over time damages topsoil, resulting in reduced crop yields. Sandy soils are much more prone to soil acidification than are clay soils.

How do fertilizers affect water pollution?

Water polluted by chemical fertilizers. The use of chemical fertilizers on crops can have adverse effects on waterways caused by chemical run off of the excess fertilizer. The over-abundance of nutrients in the water reduces the amount of oxygen.