Here’s The Scoop On Organic and Synthetic Fertilizers

Agriculture has fed the world for centuries. For thousands of years, farmers relied on organic fertilizers to replenish soil nutrients. As the world becomes more reliant on agriculture, we pay tribute to synthetic fertilizers, which have helped farmers produce more food to feed a growing population.

Agriculture is the practice of soil cultivation for the growing of crops and the rearing of animals to provide food and other products. Before this practice, our ancestors foraged for food by gathering wild plants and hunting wild animals. Over time, as communities grew, people started domesticating plants and animals and began their transition from a hunter-gatherer lifestyle to farming for survival. 

Agriculture has since come a long way. From over 11,000 years ago till today, agriculture has paved the way for civilization and continues to feed growing generations. 

As we plow through centuries of dirt that makes up the foundation of our food pyramid, it is imperative to acknowledge that the world will not be able to meet escalating food needs without the humble fertilizer. Agriculture may have sowed the seeds for human civilization, but fertilizers provided the nutrients. Whether organic or inorganic, fertilizers have enabled rapid growth in crop productivity. 

Organic and Synthetic Fertilizers In Agriculture: How Do They Work?

Understanding the significance of fertilizers in global food production requires a brief introduction to the two main agricultural types and the fertilizers that are used in each. 

Organic agriculture is the farming of crops without any use of synthetic inputs. Rather, it relies on ecological processes, biodiversity, and biological cycles. Fertilizers in organic farming are derived from organic origins, such as animal manure, bone meal, and organic compost containing naturally occurring plant- or animal-based materials.

Inorganic (or conventional) agriculture uses synthetic fertilizers to promote plant growth. Synthetic fertilizers are manufactured from minerals, gasses from the air, and synthetic chemicals. They come in single-nutrient or multi-nutrient formulas. Single-nutrient fertilizers include nitrogen fertilizers, potassium fertilizers, and phosphorus fertilizers which are primary nutrients for plants. Multi-nutrient formulas contain two or all three of the primary nutrients and come in many forms, including controlled release fertilizers, slow-release fertilizers, specially formulated fertilizers, liquid nutrients, and others.

Although both organic and synthetic fertilizers provide the same primary nutrients needed for plant growth - nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and potassium (K) - organic fertilizers typically have a lower and inconsistent NPK content compared to synthetic sources and require microorganisms to break them down into soluble nutrients to be absorbed by plants. Thus, nutrients from organic fertilizers are not as readily available to plants as compared to their synthetic counterparts. Nitrogen released from organic fertilizers such as manure is also more dependent on environmental factors such as weather, temperature, and soil conditions. 

This limits the overall effectiveness of organic fertilizers as compared to synthetic fertilizers - which provide rapid nutrition to plants.  For example, RYNAN Smart Fertilizers is a type of controlled-release synthetic fertilizer that time the release of nitrogen and nutrients in response to crop demands, enabling farmers to improve nutrient efficiency with lesser fertilizer dosages for each growing season.

The Impact of Organic and Synthetic Fertilizers

While the term ‘synthetic fertilizer’ may have a negative connotation for some, artificial fertilizers have revolutionized agriculture and enabled both population and economic growth. Synthetic fertilizers have allowed humankind to produce more food by improving crop yields. It’s been estimated that nitrogen fertilizer supports approximately half of the global population. 

Although countless research has portrayed organic fertilizers as more environmentally sustainable than synthetic fertilizers, this view may be over-simplistic and glorifies only organic fertilizers (and organic farming). 

Scientists are also concerned that it might not be sustainable for industrialized countries to take a 100 percent organic route in farming, considering that it requires more land to meet demand and produces far lower yields compared to conventional farming. There are also polarizing views that extra land used in growing organic crops means less land for carbon sequestration and may result in increases in greenhouse gas emissions. On the other hand, conventional agriculture using synthetic fertilizers requires less land use for farming (and less habitat destruction) while achieving higher yields compared to organic agriculture. This means that agricultural land is used more efficiently as it produces more food. 

The fact is, synthetic fertilizers have fed - and continue to nourish - billions of people, who otherwise would not have been able to survive or exist at all. 

With so much to sow from the use of fertilizers, there are, of course, downsides to fertilizers, organic or synthetic. Not all nutrients in fertilizers get used by crops. The excess nutrients are lost through volatilization, run-offs, and leaching into the environment. Worse, excessive applications of fertilizer lead to further eutrophication of our waterways, causing water pollution and imbalances in ecosystems and affecting biodiversity. 

As we credit what fertilizers have done to feed the world, we lament the drawbacks that come with the (over)use of fertilizers.

Can we reduce fertilizer use and pollution without sacrificing crop productivity?

Maximizing Crop Yields While Reducing Fertilizer Use

Is there a way for us to reduce the usage of fertilizer while maximizing crop yields? Can synthetic fertilizers be environmentally sustainable and alleviate the impacts of pollution? The answer is yes. 

In the Autumn-Winter cycle of 2019, together with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of Vietnam, the National Agriculture Extension Centre (NAEC) conducted a 3-month comparative study on the effects of RYNAN Smart Fertilizers (RSF) against current farmers’ practices in the Mekong River Delta. The study compared RYNAN Smart Fertilizers with regular synthetic fertilizers currently used in peanut farming.  

The results were significant not just in terms of yields but also in water pollution mitigation. With just a single fertilizing application, RSF groups yielded a 50% yield surplus compared to 6 fertilizing sessions in current farmers’ practices. The RSF-treated crops were more resistant to pests, which resulted in lesser pesticide use. Farmers also observed more vegetative growth in the peanut plants and reduced eutrophication and water pollution caused by nutrient runoff. 

While it is often assumed that to achieve higher yields, more fertilizers are needed, which can cause further pollution, this isn’t necessarily true. With RYNAN Smart Fertilizers, we have proven that we can indeed reduce fertilizer use without sacrificing food production, nor our environment for that matter. 

Find out more here if you want to learn more about our RYNAN Smart Fertilizers!

Additionally, learn more about our other case studies here. 

References:

Hannah Ritchie, How many people does synthetic fertilizer feed? Our World In Data, (7 Nov 2017) 

Leonardo N, Gupta C. Understanding the concept of organic and inorganic foods. Int J Complement Alt Med. 2021;14(5):200‒204. 

The Art & Science of Agriculture, National Geographic, (21 Jan 2011)

Anuradha Varanasi Is Organic Food Really Better for the Environment? Columbia Climate School, (22 Oct 2019)