Get to know Organic Fertilizers and their types

 

Organic fertilizers are fertilizers that are composed of living things, such as weathering the remains of plants, animals, and humans. Organic fertilizers can be in the form of solid or liquid which is used to improve the physical, chemical and biological properties of the soil. Organic fertilizers contain more organic matter than their nutrient content. Sources of organic matter can be in the form of compost, green manure, manure, crop residues (straw, stovetop, corn cobs, sugarcane bagasse, and coconut fiber), livestock waste, industrial waste using agricultural materials. , and municipal waste (garbage).

The use of organic fertilizers is actually not new, because the use of fertilizers is basically a part of the history of agriculture. The use of fertilizers is estimated to have started since the beginning of human to know farming, which is about 5,000 years ago. The primitive form of using fertilizers in improving soil fertility dates back to ancient human cultures in the watersheds of the Nile, Euphrates, Indus, China, and Latin America. Agricultural lands located around these rivers are very fertile because they receive nutrient-rich silt through floods that occur every year.

Types of Organic Fertilizer

There are several types of organic fertilizers that are familiar and commonly used by farmers, either obtained directly from nature, processed by themselves, or processed through factories. Each type of organic fertilizer has almost the same function, namely loosening the soil, maintaining the fertility and carrying capacity of the land, and it is definitely environmentally friendly.

1. Manure

Manure is one type of organic fertilizer that is often used because it is easy to obtain and cheap. The source of this fertilizer comes from livestock and poultry manure such as cows, buffaloes, goats, sheep, horses, and chickens. This type of fertilizer is effective for fertilizing soil and plants because it contains many nutrients or macronutrients such as phosphorus, nitrogen, and potassium, as well as microelements such as magnesium, sulfur, calcium, iron, sodium, molybdenum, and copper. There are two types of manure based on temperature and decomposition process, namely cold fertilizer and hot fertilizer.

2. Green manure

Green manure is a type of organic fertilizer made from plants or green plants. Plants that are used as green manure can come from crop residues or ordinary plants that are used as fertilizer.

Any type of plant can actually be used as a source of green manure. However, legumes are used more often because these plants have a higher nitrogen content than other types of plants. In addition, nuts are also easily decomposed so that the supply of nutrients becomes faster. This type of fertilizer is also used because it is effective in helping to improve the quality and productivity of the soil as a growing medium for plants.

3 Compost fertilizer

Compost fertilizer is formed from the rest of organic matter originating from plants, animals, and organic waste naturally by decomposition or fermentation. The material described through this biological process involves the help of microorganisms (fungi, bacteria, or molds) and macroorganisms (earthworms).

4. Biofertilizer

Biological fertilizers or microbiological fertilizers (biofertilizers) are fertilizers that work by utilizing living organisms. This fertilizer is not an ordinary fertilizer that directly increases soil fertility by adding nutrients to the soil.

Although based on its constituent elements, it is not classified as organic, because it is through an engineering or artificial process, many people consider this fertilizer as an organic fertilizer. The function of this fertilizer, among others, is to help improve soil structure and produce nutrients for soil and plants, as well as reduce the growth of parasites in plants.

5. Humus

Humus is an organic element that comes from the decomposition process or weathering of rotting plant leaves and twigs. In addition to fallen leaves and tree branches, to make humus, raw materials are needed such as waste from agriculture and animal husbandry, food, wood, or household waste. Humus can help increase soil moisture content, prevent erosion, and speed up the process of destroying toxic compounds in the soil.

6. Litter Fertilizer

Litter fertilizer is a type of natural fertilizer that has carbon-based compounds made from vegetable organic waste or plant components that are no longer used and change color and shape, such as straw, coconut fiber, and grass. This fertilizer is also referred to as a ground cover fertilizer because it can be placed on the soil surface. Besides being able to help fertilize the soil, litter fertilizer is also useful for maintaining moisture and soil texture so that it remains good and prevents diseases in plants due to rainwater.

7. Liquid organic fertilizer

Apart from being in solid form, organic fertilizers can also be found in liquid form. This fertilizer can be made from livestock urine or the result of the fermentation process of organic materials such as rotten fruits and other organic fertilizer materials. Liquid organic fertilizer is usually used as a complement by spraying it on the leaves or sprinkled on the soil surface near the plant.

8. Guano fertilizer

Guano fertilizer is a type of organic fertilizer produced from bat droppings or guano. The dung settles for a long time in the cave and mixes with the soil and decomposes bacteria in the bat's nest.