Fertilizer is a safe way to increase production

However, there is a certain prejudice based on mistaken suspicions about them, especially regarding their effects on the environment.

We can say that the fertilizer does not have toxic molecules in its composition. It is a mineral or organic substance that provides one or more nutrients to plants. In turn, nutrients are essential for the life of any vegetable. In fact, other than the nutrients contained in fertilizers, they are essential to us.

Thus, by nourishing plants, we nourish people. It is worth remembering that most Brazilian soils are characterized by high acidity and low nutrient levels. The fertilizer, together with limestone and agricultural gypsum, helps to resolve this nutritional deficiency. It is essential for rural producers to nutritionally balance the soil, creating a favorable environment so that plants can develop healthily.

Erosion

While precipitation provides moisture for plant growth and human well-being, it is also undoubtedly a major cause of soil degradation, seriously threatening the planet's balance.

Soil is a thin layer of mineral and organic matter that allows the retention and circulation of water and air on the Earth's surface. This thin layer, which varies in thickness from a few centimeters to a few meters, supports practically all life on the planet. Soil is an important non-renewable resource that, when subjected to strong erosion, is lost over millennia.

The cause of erosion can be water, wind or the work of the soil itself. Erosion causes the topsoil to move to another place, where it accumulates over time. The layer lost to erosion is the most fertile, alive and rich in organic matter. Soil erosion reduces land productivity and mainly contributes to the silting of rivers, which is responsible for flooding.

The risk of erosion increases if the soil is not sufficiently protected by vegetation cover and/or the layer of harvest residue from the previous crop (straw). Waste and vegetation protect the soil from the impact of raindrops and water splashes. They also tend to reduce the speed of water flow and promote water infiltration into the soil.

Plants will only be able to cover the soil quickly and efficiently the faster they develop. This is possible when the plant finds suitable conditions in the soil, especially the availability of nutrients. Because tropical soils have low fertility, that is, low availability of nutrients, it is the fertilizer that will contribute to the supply of essential nutrients for plant growth.

Likewise, the greater the development of the plant, the greater the amount of plant residue that will remain on the soil. The use of fertilizer favors greater production of plant mass, which will create a greater mass of residue, protecting the soil more efficiently against the impact of raindrops and, consequently, the soil's erosion process.

The importance of fertilizer in the plant cover of the soil and the greater production of straw is evident. These two factors contribute to reducing the soil erosion process and conserving the soil's chemical, physical and biological properties. This preservation helps the soil maintain its productive potential, but above all it contributes to reducing the siltation of rivers and lakes and water conservation.

Fertilizer to control the greenhouse effect

The greenhouse effect is a natural process that occurs in the atmosphere and its main function is to keep the planet's temperature mild and without major variations. The problem is the increasing release of carbon dioxide (CO2), which is released when burning fossil fuels, such as petroleum derivatives.

Plants have the ability to fix atmospheric CO2 during the photosynthesis process. It is exactly the carbon in CO2, which plants fix during photosynthesis, that make up our body. Remembering that 18,5% of our body weight is made up of carbon.

Agriculture is a perfect way to reduce part of the CO2 from the atmosphere and store it in the soil. The process of removing CO2 from the atmosphere and storing it in the soil is known as carbon sequestration. One of the most effective ways is through the direct planting system. This system uses crop rotation as the basis for crop management, which allows greater production of organic matter, a material rich in carbon.

Soils with low nutrient availability limit crop production, impair the proper functioning of photosynthesis, producing little food and plant residue. In other words, they affect carbon sequestration. A well-fed plant, with nutrient availability, will have greater development, greater capture of CO2 from the atmosphere.

Therefore, it is through the adequate establishment of soil fertility, providing the nutrients that are lacking in the soil that vegetables will produce adequately. This is the function that fertilizer has to provide productive gains and, indirectly, reduce the negative effect of high concentrations of CO2 in the atmosphere.

Fertilizer and the reduction of deforestation

The demand for food in the world has grown every year, this is mainly due to the growth of the world population. At the same time, the available agricultural areas on the planet have reduced. The areas most suitable for agriculture, those with the highest fertility, are already practically exhausted, but it is worth remembering that these areas have been used for many years, which has already consumed a considerable part of their fertility.

There are two possible ways to increase food production: opening new agricultural areas or increasing crop yields in existing areas. The first option goes against the sustainability of the planet, as there will be a need to cut down forests. Therefore, the second option is the most viable.

To increase crop productivity, it is necessary to consider that agricultural soils already have low availability of many nutrients, this is due to various processes such as the export of nutrients through harvesting, erosion, among others.

It is through the use of fertilizer that we can restore nutrients to the soil and, thus, allow adequate nutrition to achieve increased productivity. Getting more food out of the same area is what fertilizer has done in recent decades. Between 1975 and 2017, grain production, which was 38 million tons, grew more than six times, reaching 236 million, while the planted area only doubled.

A fundamental factor that contributed to productivity gains in Brazilian agriculture was soil correction and fertilization. Fertilizer consumption went from two million tons in 1975 to 15 million tons in 2016. If Brazil were currently producing the same productivity as in 1975, there would be a need to open, or deforest, an area of ​​approximately 150 million of hectares.

We can conclude that the use of fertilizer is responsible for greater crop productivity, generating food production, but also contributing to the preservation of forests, consequently preserving the fauna and flora of the different biomes.