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There are various fertilizer products in India, and most of them are a waste of money. Now, if you’re a farmer like me then it’s crucial that you understand which products are safe to buy and which products you should run away from as fast as you can.
The good news is that it’s actually relatively easy to spot bad fertilizer products. I’ve read through more than one hundred academic papers and interviewed dozens of experts on nutrient management, and I’ve found a simple 3 category system you can use to make sure you never buy a scam product again. Let me tell you how it works.
Stop! Watch This Before You Buy Fertilizer - How to Spot Fakes!!!!! 🚫❌
Category 1 : Chemical fertilizers
Most of the fertilizers you can buy today are chemical fertilizers like Urea, DAP or SSP. They usually come in big bags. Importantly, every chemical fertilizer bag should have a content label that says something like Nitrogen (46%), Phosphorus (18%), Potassium (0%), or just NPK 46-18-0 for short. Those numbers are important! They tell us that 18% of the bag's weight is phosphorus nutrient, 46% is nitrogen nutrient and so on.
Generally speaking, chemical fertilizers are my favorite because they’re cheap and effective. However, scams do exist. If your bag doesn’t have a nutrient label or the label doesn’t have nutrient percentages, DON’T BUY IT. Zero nutrient bags are unfortunately quite common and they are a total waste of money.
Why do organic fertilizers matter? The Ultimate Soil Superfood 🌿💎
Source | % Nitrogen (N) | % Phosphorus (P) | % Potassium (K) |
Cow | 0.7 | 0.2 | 0.6 |
Chicken | 2.7 | 1.3 | 1.4 |
Pig | 0.9 | 0.5 | 0.6 |
Goat | 1.0 | 0.3 | 1.0 |
Green Manure | 3.8 | 1.3 | 0.1 |
Second Category : Organic Fertilizers
Organic fertilizers like animal manure and green manure have been used for centuries to add nutrients to soil. They contain plant nutrients just like chemical fertilizers, but at much lower amounts per kg. For example, 3000 kg of cow manure contain as much nitrogen as a single 45 kg sack of urea.
But that doesn't mean that organic fertilizers are bad. The real reason for using organic fertilizers is that they are a rich source of organic carbon. Organic carbon is amazing at storing water, holding nutrients in the soil and so it has strong yield benefits. So if you have access to cheap organic manure, I highly recommend using alongside chemical fertilizers to increase not only our yield this year, but also in the future.
Biological Fertilizers: Breakthrough or Bust? Don't Fall for the Hype!!!!! 🤔😱❌
Biological fertilizers come in small packages or bottles. They contain small organisms which can help increase the fertility of your soil. The idea is that just like you could put a cow on your field to naturally improve your soil quality, you can also try to add millions of bacteria, and hope that they will improve soil health.
Unfortunately, I have read dozens of scientific papers and it seems like biological fertilizers are not that great yet. They have been tested in the United States with mild success, but in India their results are inconsistent and more research needs to be done. While I’m hopeful for the future, I personally think that most of the biological fertilizers sold today in India are a total scam: they are expensive, ineffective, and a waste of money. You should never buy fertilizers from this category.
Today's Merry Tips
A simple system to separate fertilizers into 3 categories alongside practical guidance on which fertilizers to buy if you don’t want to waste money. Please remember that.
Chemical fertilizers come in big bags. They are a safe, easy and cheap way to add nutrients to your crop as long as their nutrient labels make sense
Organic fertilizers contain nutrients and organic carbon and will improve your soil health for many years
Biological fertilizers come in small bottles or packages and are not worth your money until more research is done
Did you enjoy this post? If you did, then I’m happy to tell you that there will be another post next week to talk about how to prevent the most common mistakes I see Indian farmers make with nitrogen fertilizer. Please subscribe to get an update as soon as a new post comes out!
Merry Farming!
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