Benefits of Organic Fertilizer: Composting - Term Paper Example

Benefits of Organic Fertilizer: Composting Organic fertilizers are carbon based compounds that increase output and growth quality of plants, and they are mainly made from plant or animal residues (Saddleback58). Some of the examples of organic fertilizers include manure and compost and they are widely used by farmers. Basically, composting converts animal waste into a product that is easy to handle. This is because it entails locally producing fertilizers, pesticides, and other products needed in organic farming. Compost is a good source of organic matter for plants since it provides air, water, organic matter and microorganisms to the plants thereby enhancing their growth. More so, compost maintains a healthy atmosphere for the soil, thus protecting the plants from insects or diseases. Indeed, there are many benefits of organic fertilizer that are enjoyed by those farmers using this type of fertilizer. This paper discusses the various benefits of organic fertilizer including its benefits to lakes, soil, and environment as a whole. Generally, organic fertilizers are of great importance to the soil, environment, plants, and the economy. First and foremost, organic fertilizer improves soil health (Saddleback59) through various ways such as increasing organic matter. Normally, the natural soil has organic matter and so adding more organic matter in this type of soil helps in improving the structure of the soil by creating more air space and increase the soils ability to retain water. Arguably, by increasing organic matter and reducing nutrient leaching, elements of nitrogen and phosphorous will be accumulated in the roots of plants instead of the local waterways. Given that nutrient leaching from agriculture leads to increased formation of algae blooms in lakes, the ecosystem is usually disrupted by this process causing water to be unsafe for human use. More so, organic fertilizers improve soil health by reducing soil erosion because a higher amount of organic matter in the soil is likely to help prevent soil erosion. Again, organic fertilizer improves soil health by creating a healthy ecosystem. This is possible because it protects the microorganisms and earthworms living in the soil. In addition, organic fertilizers improve soil by retaining moisture in it, prevent plant diseases and provide slow release plant nutrients, and increase soil organic matter content among others (Morris 21). Organic fertilizers are sources of nutrients and as a soil conditioner (Givens 289); therefore, organic fertilizer improves the physical structure of the soil and enriches it with micro-organisms, and so they ensure that the soil remains fertile for long. Indeed, healthy soil is very essential in protecting waters from lakes, rivers or oceans. Notably, compost boosts the capacity of soil to retain water and diminishes runoff, and it does this by encouraging healthy root systems which in turn decrease runoff and increase water infiltration into the soil (Chesworth 268). Runoff is known to be one major cause of water pollution since it transports soil, fertilizers and pesticides to nearby rivers and lakes. Moreover, non-synthetic fertilizers protect the environment as they are easily bio-degradable, and so they protect the environment from pollution. As a result, they protect the entire environment including water bodies by not contaminating the land and water in lakes, oceans and rivers, for instance, compost helps in preventing pollutants in storm water runoff from getting into the surface of water bodies. More so, it helps in preventing erosion and silting on edges corresponding to water sources like lakes. These are some of the ways through which organic fertilizers protects our environment and lakes. In addition, using organic fertilizers helps in producing healthy food that does not contain toxic chemicals (Saddleback59). Unlike synthesized fertilizers, organic fertilizers do not put the life and health of humans at risk. The end consumers eating organic products are less prone to various health complications such as cancer, stroke, and heart diseases among others. Truly, organic foods are safer than their inorganic alternatives where there is no use of chemicals during their production. Notably, Lake Erie is one of the Great Lakes in the world which has been suffering from toxic algal blooms for a long time. The method of applying agricultural fertilizers has been identified as the primary cause of the increasing amounts of phosphorus entering Lake Erie which result in toxic algal blooms and a large dead zone in the lake. Indeed, excess algal growth can harm fish and wildlife habitats. It can as well interrupt human activities such as fishing and boating because certain algal toxins can cause serious health problems. Arguably, the use of synthetic fertilizers results in large releases of phosphorous to the lakes and the environment as a whole. The problem in Lake Erie is because of excessive release of phosphorous from industrial plants and sewerage. Just like humans, lakes need nutrients in good amounts so as to stay healthy. Therefore, encouraging the use of organic fertilizers can be one of the effective measures to significantly reduce phosphorous and eliminate algal blooms in Lake Erie. More so, composting enriches soils and helps in cleaning up contaminated soil. Compost assists in regenerating poor soils since it promotes the release of important micro-organisms which assist in breaking down organic matter to form humus (Gershuny 1). Humus is very rich in nutrients and it assists in increasing the nutrient content in soils and also enables soils to retain moisture, and this way, compost play a significant role in suppressing plant illnesses and pests hence increase in production of agricultural crops. Nevertheless, compost cleans up contaminated soil by absorbing odors and treating volatile organic compounds such as heating fuels and explosives. Compost also helps in binding heavy metals and preventing them from being absorbed by plants, or from finding their way to water resources, therefore, compost degrades and removes the elements in contaminated soils. Other benefits of composting include stabilizing the volatile nitrogen fraction by fixing it into organic forms, and also it allows an even distribution of trace materials thereby eliminating the problem of spot imbalances (Gershuny 2). Furthermore, organic fertilizer also offers economic benefits as it is a cheaper option than chemical alternatives. Mostly, organic fertilizers cost much less as compared to their chemical alternatives. The use of compost helps in minimizing the need for water and other necessities, therefore, a farmer who has been practicing it for a long time only need very less quantities of fertilizers because the soil is already rich with nutrients. Composting is a cheaper option to enhance soil fertility, increase the yield of agricultural products, protect the ecosystem, and it is also less costly to clean up contaminated soil. In addition, with organic farming, the process of converting bio-wastes helps in minimizing waste flow to landfills. Organic fertilizers are also beneficial to the farmers themselves, that is, they increase security for the farmer to escape from suffering poisoning in the management of organic inputs. More so, organic farming requires low capital investment and the use of simple technologies which helps the farmer to spend less to be producing more. All in all, organic fertilizers have many benefits, especially to the environment as it decreases runoff, thereby protecting water bodies including lakes, rivers and oceans. This in turn protects humans from taking contaminated water, which puts their life and health at risk. However, organic fertilizers also have many disadvantages as compared to inorganic alternatives. To begin with, organic fertilizers are labor intensive because they require a lot of energy to put everything in order. Agreeably, turning compost piles, moving manure, and spreading solid fertilizer is not really an easy task, and applying the fertilizer on a large scale farm is even more difficult. Apart from being labor intensive, producing organic fertilizers requires a time commitment to be able to produce quality manure or compost. More so, there is only a limited amount of organic material available in many areas and so its nutrient content is low and so it is not possible to provide the required nutrients to the crops using organic fertilizer alone (Morris 21). In addition, microorganisms are expected to break down and release nutrients into the soil. The idea of being broken down by bacterial process makes organic fertilizers more complex (White 37). The efficiency of organic fertilizer is partial seasonally because these microorganisms require warmth and moisture to do their job accordingly. Again, organic fertilizers decompose according to the rules of nature and so this may prevent them from realizing nutrients as soon as they are needed. This is a major challenge to the farmers who are expected to be patient even if their crops are weathering. In addition, preparation of organic fertilizer requires land, that is, the composting site and storage for finished product can use a large area of land. This is another problems faced by farmers especially those who come from places where land is limited. Moreover, incomplete composting can leave some pathogens in the organic matter and these remaining pathogens can find their way to the water systems or food crops thereby causing human health and environmental problems. In conclusion, organic farming has become more common in today’s world and it involves the use of organic fertilizers. Organic fertilizers are carbon-based compounds that are used to increase productivity of agricultural crops, and they are extracted from plant or animal waste products. Organic fertilizers have very many benefits to the soil, environment, plants and farmers. First, organic fertilizers improve soil health by increasing organic matter, reducing nutrient leaching, reducing soil erosion, and improving soil structure to create more space and retain water within the soil. More so, organic fertilizers protect the environment and so help in creating a healthy ecosystem. For instance, composting increases the ability of the soil to retain water and decrease runoff, this way, there will be prevention of runoff pollution thus safe lakes and rivers. In addition, the use of organic fertilizers helps in providing safe food at a cheaper cost. Composting helps in enriching soil and cleaning up contaminated soil and this in turn increases productivity of the crops. On the contrary, organic fertilizers have some disadvantages such as being labor intensive, requires land, and time consuming and so on. Works Cited Chesworth, Ward. Encyclopedia of Soil Science. Dordrecht, Netherlands: Springer, 2008. Print. Gershuny, Grace. Compost, Vermicompost and Compost Tea: Feeding the Soil on the Organic Farm. Chelsea Green Publishing, 2011. Print Givens, Ian. Health Benefits of Organic Food: Effects of the Environment / Edited by D. Ian Givens ... [et Al.]. Wallingford, UK: CABI, 2008. Print. Morris, Michael L. Fertilizer Use in African Agriculture: Lessons Learned and Good Practice Guidelines. Washington, DC: World Bank, 2007. Internet resource. Saddleback. Go Organic Differentiated Text. Costa Mesa, CA: Saddleback Educational Pub, 2010. Print White, Judy. Taylors Guide to Orchids. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co, 1996. Print. Read More