Send any research about the bad effects of synthetic fertilizers to the soil?

Question

Send any research about the bad effects of synthetic fertilizers to the soil?

Answer 1

Asking for scientific research to support the bad effects of synthetic fertilizers on the soil is hitting below the belt.  Just like asking for research results to support the effects of farmers causing global warming or GMO crops leading to grotesque mutations and leading to the end of the world as we know it. The people and organizations supporting these concepts aren't interested in the facts messing up a good story.  Just take a look at Al Gore, they give Nobel Peace Prizes for that kind of stuff.  They are not interested in the truth missing up a good thing.  Just accept these facts, synthetic fertilizers - bad.  Don't consider things like that without them half of the world would starve to death, that messes up the story.  Besides if half of the population was gone the ecology would improve so synthetic fertilizers - bad. So don't be unreasonable and ask for proof of research.

Answer 2

The question of fertilizer being synthesized or not does not appear to be the primary area of concern.

We get all of the NPK components in good nile delta soil without anyone synthesizing one bit of it.

What appears to be the problem is that we depend on natural decomposition of our soil to provide most of the 16 elements that plants need, while supplying from 3 to 5. We do sometimes provide sulphur calcium, magnesium when  they are very defficient. Those are not synthesized, but that is not a significant criteria.

Well, we provide 6 of the 16 elements and air and water provide carbon, oxygen, nitrogen, hydrogen, so we are up to 10 of our 16. The other 6, micronutrients we call them, may be supplied by the soil in adequate quantities, or it may not, partly but not entirely dependent on what minerals the soil was weathered from, partly dependent on soil pH.

When we provide all of 10 elements that plants need to thrive, leaving 6 elements on a catch as catch can basis, we may or may not allow the plants to encounter diseases from shortage of one of those micronutrients. We just outstrip availability of them. The individual crop may really need that micronutrient a lot, and we could have grown a different crop without outstripping supply.

Does this mean that fertilizer made in a factory causes the  crop to outstrip the supply of micronutrients? In the same sense that if I feed you but do not ensure you have water and air, my feeding you caused your death. When I undertake to keep the crop fed its nutrient requirements it just does not make sense to supply enough of one element that the plant will run short of others.

I have a logical choice to make sure that all the nicronutrients are provided in step with the major nutrients, or reduce the application of macro-nutrients to match micro-nutrient availability.

If I do balance all my nutrients this year, I should expect that the  soil will be unequally depleted in some elements because the soil breakdown is not equal for all elements. Also, rain water passing through the soil will leach away more of some than other elements. Those that are most soluble and least attached to soil particles may migrate right out of the soil.

Now, within the soil we have organic processes that produce our macronutrients, and they may produce enough of a macronutrient to drive a crop into shortage of others. Thus a soil with very low potassium or phosphate levels may be sick from shortage of those if the soil organisms provide just a bit of an excess of nitrate.

Alternately if the soil is to acidic while organic farmers hate chemicals we add calcium and  possibly magnesium salts to the soil, or when we have a high pH  we add sulphur or a sulphated phosphate, ammonia, or ....

We have come to accept some chemicals from industry, but reject others that come straight from the earth.

Because most farmers do not test their soil for micronutrients, and because commercial fertilizer does not formulate any, farmers really do not have a ready methodology to balance the micros, it follows that our farmers have to cut back on major nutrients when micronutrients are not readily available.

We do not test soils to know when to cut back.

But organic farmers do not have a magic wand to ensure nutrient balance either.

Answer 3

It's not really that synthetic fertilizers have bad effects on the soil itself - the plants love them.  It's that they allow farmers to grow too many crops, in monoculture, under unsustainable conditions, and their farms become dependent on them.

They also can run off and pollute water, unlike compost and manure.

Look at the permaculture or organic farming literature for more.

DK

Answer 4

First of all, the term "synthetic" is too general.  Something like urea (nitrogen) is manufactured by using atmospheric nitrogen and natural gas or anhydrous ammonia is probably as close to "synthetic" as you can get.  The closest "bad" effect is that anhydrous ammonia will gradually acidify the soil, but applying lime offsets that.  It also temporarily kills soil microbes in the narrow zone where is initially applied.  This is temporary and soon they're back stronger than before.  

Nitrate, phosphorous and potassium fertilizers are mined from the soil and are "natural" regardless of what organic folks say.  Incidently, manure and compost CAN pollute water resources, especially manure.

Research can find something bad about anything.  A few years ago, the burned crumbles on a fried or grilled hamburger was supposed to cause cancer.  Eggs were full of cholestrol and would kill you.  Whole milk plugs up your arteries.  It goes on and on and on.  ANYTHING in excess can kill you.  We humans NEED salt to survive, but were you so set down and eat a bowl of salt, it would kill you.  Ever hear of water intoxication?  We need the stuff but too much will kill us.  The same way with oxygen, we'll die without it but also die with too much of it.  

If you're doing a research paper of some sort, try to take a more unbiased view of any subject.  Also keep in mind that often times, the results of research just happen to coincide with the desires of whoever is providing the funding for the research.  Hmmm, what a coincidence!