Chemical Fertilizers- Harmful effects

The main reason why chemical fertilizers can cause pollution to land, because in practice, much of the waste. The use of artificial fertilizers (inorganic) which will constantly accelerate expiration of organic substances, destroying the balance of nutrients in the soil, giving rise to a variety of plant diseases.

Chemical fertilize rnutrient substances are substances needed by plants. However, should these nutrients in the soil naturally with the soil nutrient cycle such as plants die and then eaten by rodents / herbivores, plant litter or waste is broken down by organisms such as bacteria, worms, fungi and others. This cycle should be maintained, if the use of chemical fertilizers, especially if it will break the cycle of excessive soil will kill the organism, especially land, would be present only in the fertile but not infertile in the future. For that fact needs to be maintained by using a fixed pattern organic fertilizers instead of chemical fertilizers.

The impact of nutrients contained in the soil become bound by the molecules of chemical fertilizers so that the regeneration of humus can not be done again. As a result, security of land / soil bearing capacity in producing a less barren until a later date. Not only was the use of chemical fertilizers on an ongoing basis will make a stronger resistance to pests of agricultural pesticides. Another problem is the use of urea is usually very wasteful. During Nitrogen fertilization with urea is never optimal because the content of nitrogen in urea is only about 40-60% only. The number of missing to reach 50% due to evaporation, leaching (leaching) and carried by rain water (run off). Another effect of the use of chemical fertilizers also reduce and suppress populations of soil microorganisms that are beneficial to the soil that are beneficial to plants.

Layer of soil that currently exists has been severe damage conditions due to the use of chemical fertilizers continuous and prolonged, resulting in:

• The soil becomes hard

• Land of the hungry and thirsty fertilizer

• Many pesticide and insecticide residues remaining in soil

• depleting the soil microorganisms

• Many of the harmful microorganisms proliferate well

• Soil nutrient poorer both macro and micro

• Not all fertilizers can be absorbed by plants (Anonymous, 2010).

Pollution prevention

 

Soil pollution also can have an impact on ecosystems. Radical changes in soil chemistry may arise from the presence of toxic chemicals / hazardous even at low doses though. These changes can cause changes in metabolism of endemic microorganisms and arthropods that live in the soil environment. As a result, it can even destroy some of the primary species of the food chain, which can give a great result against predators or other levels of the food chain. Even if the chemical effects on the lowest form of life is low, the bottom of the food pyramid can ingest foreign chemicals in the long run will be concentrated on the creatures on the inhabitants of the pyramid. Many of these effects are seen at this time, as the concentration of DDT in birds caused eggshell fragility, increased levels of seedling death and the possible loss of species.

The impact on agriculture, especially changes in plant metabolism, which in turn can cause a decrease in agricultural output. This can cause further impact on the conservation of plants where the plants are not able to hold a layer of soil from erosion. Some of these contaminants have long half-life and in other cases derivative chemicals are formed from the major soil pollutants.

There are several steps handler to reduce the impact caused by the pollution of soil, including:

 

A. Remediation

Activities to clean the surface of the land known as remediation. Prior to remediation, things to know:

1. Types of pollutants (organic or inorganic), degraded / no, dangerous / not,

2. How many contaminants that have been polluting the land,

3. Comparison of carbon (C), nitrogen (N) and phosphate (P),

4. Soil type,

5. Soil conditions (wet, dry),

6. How long the contaminants have been deposited at the site,

7. Pollution conditions (very important to be cleaned immediately / can be delayed).

There are two types of soil remediation, the on-site and off-site. On-site cleanup is a cleanup at the site. Cleaning is cheaper and easier, consisting of cleaning, venting (injection), and bioremediation.

Off-site cleanup includes excavation of contaminated soil and then taken to a safe area. After that the area is safe, the land cleared of contaminants. The trick is, the land is kept in the tub / tank are impermeable, then the cleaning agent is pumped into the tub / tank. Furthermore pollutants pumped out of the tub is then processed by the installation of waste water processing. Off-site cleaning is much more expensive and complicated.

B. Bioremediation

Bioremediation is the process of cleaning the soil contamination with microorganisms (fungi, bacteria). Bioremediation aims to break down or degrade contaminants into less toxic materials or non-toxic (carbon dioxide and water).

Rain water harvesting

What is Rainwater Harvesting? 

Although close to three fourths of our planet is made of water, not all of it is suitable for use. The water in the oceans and seas cannot be used as drinking water and little of it can be utilized for other purposes. As a result, there is a constant shortage of water that is either good for drinking or home and industrial use. Areas on the planet that have long faced water shortage were able to combat this problem by harvesting what little rain water they received. This slowly started spreading to areas where there was plenty of rainfall.

 

The idea behind the process is simple. Rainwater is collected when it falls on the earth, stored and utilized at a later point. It can be purified to make it into drinking water, used for daily applications and even utilized in large scale industries. In short, Rainwater harvesting is a process or technique of collecting, filtering, storing and using rainwater for irrigation and for various other purposes.

To reduce the consumption of groundwater, many people around the world are using rainwater harvesting systems. This practice has been around for thousands of years and has been growing at a rapid pace. Till today, rainwater is used as a primarily source of drinking water in several rural areas.  The best thing about rainwater is that it is free from pollutants as well as salts, minerals, and other natural and man-made contaminants. In areas where there is excess rainfall, the surplus rainwater can be used recharge ground water through artificial recharge techniques.

In an urban setting, harvesting is usually done with the help of some infrastructure or the simplest method for a rainwater harvesting system is storage tanks. In this, a catchment area for the water is directly linked to cisterns, tanks and reservoirs. Water can be stored here until needed or used on a daily basis. The roofs our homes are the best catchment areas, provided they are large enough to harvest daily water needs. Other than that, large bowls and tarps can also fulfill the function.

Advantages of Rainwater Harvesting

1. Easy to Maintain: Utilizing the rainwater harvesting system provides certain advantages to the community. First of all, harvesting rainwater allows us to better utilize an energy resource. It is important to do so since drinking water is not easily renewable and it helps in reducing wastage. Systems for the collection of rainwater are based on simple technology.

The overall cost of their installation and operation is much lesser than that of water purifying or pumping systems. Maintenance requires little time and energy. The result is the collection of water that can be used in substantial ways even without purification.

2. Reducing Water Bills: Water collected in the rainwater harvesting system can be put to use for several non-drinking functions as well. For many families and small businesses, this leads to a large reduction in their utilities bill. On an industrial scale, harvesting rainwater can provide the needed amounts of water for many operations to take place smoothly without having to deplete the nearby water sources.

It also lessens the burden of soil erosion in a number of areas, allowing the land to thrive once again. In fact, it can also be stored in cisterns for use during times when water supplies are at an all-time low.

3. Suitable for Irrigation: As such, there is little requirement for building new infrastructure for the rainwater harvesting system. Most rooftops act as a workable catchment area, which can be linked to the harvesting system. This also lessens the impact on the environment by reducing use of fuel based machines.

Rainwater is free from many chemicals found in ground water, making it suitable for irrigation and watering gardens. In fact, storing large reservoirs of harvested water is a great idea for areas where forest fires and bush fires are common during summer months.

4. Reduces Demand on Ground Water: With increase in population, the demand for water is also continuously increasing. The end result is that many residential colonies and industries are extracting ground water to fulfill their daily demands. This has led to depletion of ground water which has gone to significant low level in some areas where there is huge water scarcity.

5. Reduces Floods and Soil Erosion: During rainy season, rainwater is collected in large storage tanks which also helps in reducing floods in some low lying areas. Apart from this, it also helps in reducing soil erosion and contamination of surface water with pesticides and fertilizers from rainwater run-off which results in cleaner lakes and ponds.

6. Can be used for Several Non-drinking Purposes: Rainwater when collected can be used for several non-drinking functions including flushing toilets, washing clothes, watering the garden, washing cars etc. It is unnecessary to use pure drinking water if all we need to use it for some other purpose rather than drinking.

Disadvantages of Rainwater Harvesting

1. Unpredictable Rainfall: Rainfall is hard to predict and sometimes little or no rainfall can limit the supply of rainwater.  It is not advisable to depend on rainwater alone for all your water needs in areas where there is limited rainfall. Rainwater harvesting is suitable in those areas that receive plenty of rainfall.

2. Initial High Cost: Depending on the system’s size and technology level, a rainwater harvesting system may cost anywhere between $200 to $2000 and benefit from it cannot be derived until it is ready for use. Like solar panels, the cost can be recovered in 10-15 years which again depends on the amount of rainfall and sophistication of the system.

3. Regular Maintenance: Rainwater harvesting systems require regular maintenance as they may get prone to rodents, mosquitoes, algae growth, insects and lizards. They can become as breeding grounds for many animals if they are not properly maintained.

4. Certain Roof Types may Seep Chemicals or Animal Droppings: Certain types of roofs may seep chemicals, insects, dirt or animals droppings that can harm plants if it is used for watering the plants.

5. Storage Limits: The collection and storage facilities may also impose some kind of restrictions as to how much rainwater you can use. During the heavy downpour, the collection systems may not be able to hold all rainwater which ends in going to drains and rivers.

Rainwater harvesting is a system that is gaining speed over time. Areas that experience high amounts of rainfall will benefit the most from the system and will be able to distribute water to dry lands with ease. However, the beneficial environmental impact of the system is what drives it further as of now.

What is organic farming?

Organic farming system in India is not new and is being followed from ancient time. It is a method of farming system which primarily aimed at cultivating the land and raising crops in such a way, as to keep the soil alive and in good health by use of organic wastes (crop, animal and farm wastes, aquatic wastes) and other biological materials along with beneficial microbes (bio fertilizers) to release nutrients to crops for increased sustainable production in an ecofriendly pollution free environment.

As per the definition of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) study team on organic farming “organic farming is a system which avoids or largely excludes the use of synthetic inputs (such as fertilizers, pesticides, hormones, feed additives etc) and to the maximum extent feasible rely upon crop rotations, crop residues, animal manures, off-farm organic waste, mineral grade rock additives and biological system of nutrient mobilization and plant protection”.

FAO suggested that “Organic agriculture is a unique production management system which promotes and enhances agro-ecosystem health, including biodiversity, biological cycles and soil biological activity, and this is accomplished by using on-farm agronomic, biological and mechanical methods in exclusion of all synthetic off-farm inputs”.

Need of organic farming

With the increase in population our compulsion would be not only to stabilize agricultural production but to increase it further in sustainable manner. The scientists have realized that the ‘Green Revolution’ with high input use has reached a plateau and is now sustained with diminishing return of falling dividends. Thus, a natural balance needs to be maintained at all cost for existence of life and property. The obvious choice for that would be more relevant in the present era, when these agrochemicals which are produced from fossil fuel and are not renewable and are diminishing in availability. It may also cost heavily on our foreign exchange in future.

The key characteristics of organic farming include

• Protecting the long term fertility of soils by maintaining organic matter levels, encouraging soil biological activity, and careful mechanical intervention
• Providing crop nutrients indirectly using relatively insoluble nutrient sources which are made available to the plant by the action of soil micro-organisms
• Nitrogen self-sufficiency through the use of legumes and biological nitrogen fixation, as well as effective recycling of organic materials including crop residues and livestock manures
• Weed, disease and pest control relying primarily on crop rotations, natural predators, diversity, organic manuring, resistant varieties and limited (preferably minimal) thermal, biological and chemical intervention
• The extensive management of livestock, paying full regard to their evolutionary adaptations, behavioral needs and animal welfare issues with respect to nutrition, housing, health, breeding and rearing
• Careful attention to the impact of the farming system on the wider environment and the conservation of wildlife and natural habitats
  

·         There are at least three options available in organic farming they are:

·         1. Pure organic farming.

2. Integrated green revolution farming.

3. Integrated farming system.( IFS).

·         1. Pure Organic Farming:

·         This excludes the use of inorganic manures and biological pest control methods. It all the NPK requirement is to be supplied in the form of organic either as farm or town compost or green manure, the quantity of organic required will be huge. But large potential of organic resources remains untapped in the country. Nearly 750 millions tones of cow dung, 250 millions tones yielding crop varieties and hybrid and mechanization of labour are retained. But much greater efficiency on the use of these inputs is obtained to limit damages to the environment and human health. For this purpose, some organic techniques are developed and combined with the input technology in order to create integrated system such as ‘Integrated nutrient management ‘ ( INM), ‘Integrated pest management ‘and biological control method, which reduce need or chemicals. Modern biotechnology is also employed to developed higher yielding, pest resistant crop varities.

·         2. Integrated Farming System:

·         The third option in Organic farming is the low input organic farming, in which the farmers have to depend on local resources and ecological process, recycling agricultural wastes and crop residues.

The Following Categories have been Suggestion:

1. External quality freedom from pest and disease damage freshness and colour.

2. Technological quality: Improved properties of storage and processing.

3. Nutritional / physiological quality: Increased content of valuable nutrient and other agricultural chemical residues.
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4. Environment quality of the system of production, with regard to the organization of crop and livestock and management of farm resources, in such a way that they harmonize rather than conflict with natural system.

·         This system merits consideration on the ground that most of the ills of modern day agriculture are avoided. Use of agro chemical is forbidden. There is emphasis on build up or organic matter in the soil, there by activating biological activity. Soil is treated as a living organism. Maintenance of favorable soil structure and development and use of crop rotation that improve soil fertility, control pests and disease, pest and diseases, pests and weeds are adopted. The major difference between organic and conventional farming is the almost exclusive reliance of the organic farmer on organic matter for supply of nutrients.

·         As a consequence of conventional agricultural practices, soil erosion and air pollution may occur. Eroded soils run into reservoirs, clogging water ways, etc, thereby existing an off farm impact. In areas where soils are heavily fertilized soils omit 2 to 10 times as much nitrous oxide as unfertilized soils and pasture.

·         Conservation of wild life habitat and rural landscape to agricultural use may lead to loss of biodiversity and degradation of landscape an off farm impact having long term consequence on productivity and sustainability. In view of the impact that conventional agricultural practices have, what is needed is an ecomically and environmentally efficient agriculture.