Over the years, it is believed that increasing use of fertilizers is key for raising agricultural productivity and reducing poverty, but experts have raised concern over the health and environmental implications of using chemical fertilizers, JOHN OBA reports.
Fertilizer
For many farmers in Nigeria, the use of chemical fertilizer like Nitrogen, NPK etc is essential to increased yield, but evidence according to experts has shown that based on recent empirical evidence in Nigeria, simply increasing the quantity of fertilizer used by smallholders is not likely to successfully drive increased yields.
Also soil health management is vital for the maintenance of biodiversity and safeguarding sustainable agricultural production. So, retaining and preserving soil health has prime importance for ecosystem sustainability. The health of soil is regulated by soil properties, that is, physicochemical and biological properties. Modern agriculture is largely dependent upon fertilizers which some have called an unavoidable threat to agriculture.
Yes, there is no denying the fact that chemical fertilizers have aided farmers in increasing crop production since the 1930s hence has it place in increasing plant nutrients in adverse weather conditions or during times when plants need additional nutrients, but Scientist has also raised cncern that there are several harmful effects of chemical fertilizers.
Government efforts
The Federal Government of Nigeria has not spare any efforts in ensuring that Nigeria farmers are provided with adequate fertilizers with several programmes such as the Anchor Borrowers Programme and the Presidential Fertilizer Initiative.
The Anchor Borrowers Programme, which was launched by the Federal Government, through the Central Bank of Nigeria, in 2015 to boost the nation’s agricultural sector! and increase the production of crops such as rice, maize, wheat and tomato, among others, and boosted local production as well as conserved the nation’s foreign exchange through marked reduction in importation.
There is also the Presidential Fertilizer Initiative, which is aimed at stimulating local production of NPK fertilizer by reviving moribund fertilizer plants and the local blending ferilizer industry, making
fertilizer available to Nigerian farmers at affordable prices and saving $200 million in foreign exchange and N60 billion in budgetary provision for fertilizer subsidy, and of course creating thousands of
jobs in the process.
Danger of chemical fertilizer
But there are increasing concern that continuous use of chemical fertilizers on soil depletes the soil of essential nutrients. As a result, the food produced in these soils have less vitamin and mineral content. According to data produced by the U.S. Department of Agriculture Nutrient Data Laboratory, foods grown in soils that were chemically fertilized were found to have less magnesium, potassium and calcium content.
An expert, Executive Director Transparency and Economic Development Initiative (TEDI) NGO based in Abakaliki Ebonyi State, Elder Emeka Ogazi, warned that the use of chemical fertilizer causes organ failure and urged Nigeria farmers to discard it.
Speaking during a weekend lecture on Journalist Go Organic platform on the topic: “Biofertilizer in Organic Food Production, Ogazi said currently chemical fertilizer is for symptomatic treatment as it provide immediate relief but cannot provide sustainable long-term solutions to farmers, rather creates farmer addictions, crash and crops failure, and human health challenges.
Adding that farmer’s application chemical fertilizer locks them into keep applying reliance mood syndrome and the farmers become addicted to the short-term highs from immediate cash profits but the highs decline over time impoverishing them, leaving no profit in farmers pocket, as costs increase and returns decrease.
“Management that involves increasing inputs to address the impacts of prior inputs is not sustainable as application of fertilizers, herbicides and insecticides represents symptomatic treatment that in the long term fails.
“Chemical fertilizer addiction harms: for example, super phosphate fertilizer applied to address nutrient deficiency adds salt to the soil and produces acidity that reduces nutrient availability, microbes, and microbiota such as earthworms and microbes that aids {OM} Organic Matter die off.
“Do you see friends of the farmers Mr . Earthworms there or crabs? of cause no, as well as the soldiers of the organic matter helping in anaerobic and aerobic decomposition of organic matter? This is as a result of salt contents of Chemical Grain Fertilizer application that kill them or scare them away.
“Continuous Application of chemical fertilizer to the soil leads acidic soil. The acidity resulting from chemical fertilizer is addressed by applying lime, yet most of this calcium is lost from plant availability, where microbes are excluded as results of applying chemical fertilizers that are harsh to the friends of farmers. In the meantime, the associated loss of soil organic matter and microbial activity produce compacted soils, (mind you limestone is used for cement, hardens the soil). This reduces water availability to plants by increasing surface runoff (water hydrolysis carrying the chemical urea into the stream) It further promotes development of dry land and prompting algae and water hyacinth bloom due to hydrolysis,” he said.
He stated further that chemical fertilizers are full of limestone harden soil, compact soil, plants can’t root deep down absorb nutrients, and that the salts contents kill microbes and microbiota such as earthworms providing nutrients for the soil health while plants yeild become poor, grow poorly, dwarfed with low yields if at all.
But that deploying biofertilizer full of microbes, living organisms, softens and conditions the soil, corrects the PH level of the soil and makes available the essential nutrients and trace minerals for the plant and soil health fertility will solve the problem.
He said when the beneficial microbes colonizes the soil the condition necessary for other microbiota like earthworms and soldiers of organic matter exist leading to plants healthy growth, healthy flowering and fruiting, as well removes plants pathogens.
Reversal of the problem
With the above problems associated with Chemical Fertilizer, the questions are, how do we revert to the natural soil health fertility to be sustainable?
Elder Ogazi called for the deployment of Biofertilizer, saying they are microbial workers that enriches the soil for long time with so many benefits to the plants health, soil health fertility. Adding that beneficial microbes addressee the issues of non sustainability of chemical fertilizer in farming.
Arguing that granulated chemical fertilizer urea makes plants leave to taste sweety, attracts all kinds of chewing insects to the farm, chewing the sweet leaves, making farmers to loose, compelling them to spray chemical insecticide that is injurious to the health of the plants and man, killing friendly insects in the ecosystem.
Biofertilizer encourages microbial ecology, not destructive, it deahls with destructive insects if bio-enzymes are inclusive in the manufacturing content.
Benefits of Biofertilizer
According Ogaxi, Biofertilizer where deployed, revitalise soil nutrients to healthy soil fertility, promotes early germination of seeds if soaked in it, when planted it promotes early densed growth, double broad leaves from natural phototropism of leaves from 750 to 1500, early flowering, early fruiting and early ripening of crops
“Biofertilizer enhances the phototropic use of water, Carbon and sunlight capacity of plants; enhances the efficacy of organic matter, helping to decompose dead grass, wastes matters back to the soil for soil health nutrients for plants use; helps plants develop resistance to pests and diseases
“Biofert fertilizer improves the physical, chemical and biological environment of the soil, acts as { soil conditioners, softens the soil as a results of earthworms that surfacing, burrowing holes for densed nutrients to penetrate the soil for soil plants fertility and it suppresses soil borne pathogens, repel insects locks off destructive chewing insects and bugs out of the farm. As Biofertilizer must contain enzymes which the insects can’t digest,” he said.
Limitation
Ogazi speaking further said the only limitation is chlorine content in water for spraying. Chlorine tend to be harsh to the microbes. We discourage use of urban public water tap, is full of chlorine jick , if one must use public tap water, allow the water to stand on the sun for at least 12 hours before use.
“Another limitation farmers complain of spraying it, they want one time spray, comparing it to chemical fertilizer they cast ones.
“But the poor yields from chemical fertilizer and high cost of chemical fertilizer force them looking for biofertilizer full of benefits listed above.
“Another limitation is lack of knowledge hub for biofertilizer. Biofertilizer is new and sounds strange to them
