Fertility (soil) - Soil Fertilization

Soil Fertilization

Bioavailable nitrogen is the element in soil that is most often lacking. Phosphorus and potassium are also needed in substantial amounts. For this reason these three elements are always identified on a commercial fertilizer analysis. For example a 10-10-15 fertilizer has 10 percent nitrogen, 10 percent (P₂O₅) available phosphorus and 15 percent (K₂O) water soluble potassium. Sulfur is the fourth element that may be identified in a commercial analysis - e.g. 21-0-0-24 which would contain 21% nitrogen and 24% sulfate.

Inorganic fertilizers are generally less expensive and have higher concentrations of nutrients than organic fertilizers. Some have criticized the use of inorganic fertilizers, claiming that the water-soluble nitrogen doesn't provide for the long-term needs of the plant and creates water pollution. Slow-release fertilizers may reduce leaching loss of nutrients and may make the nutrients that they provide available over a longer period of time.

Soil fertility is a complex process that involves the constant cycling of nutrients between organic and inorganic forms. As plant material and animal wastes decompose they release nutrients to the soil solution. Those nutrients may then undergo further transformations which may be aided or enabled by soil micro-organisms. Natural processes such as lightning strikes may fix atmospheric nitrogen by converting it to (NO₂). Denitrification may occur under anaerobic conditions (flooding) in the presence of denitrifying bacteria. The cations, primarily phosphate and potash, as well as many micronutrients are held in relatively strong bonds with the negatively charged portions of the soil in a process known as Cation Exchange Capacity

In 2008 the cost of phosphorus as fertilizer more than doubled, while the price of rock phosphate as base commodity rose eight-fold. Recently the term peak phosphorus has been coined, due to the limited occurrence of rock phosphate in the world.