Types, History, and Benefits of Organic Fertilizer

Types, History, and Benefits of Organic Fertilizer - What Is organic fertilizer? Organic fertilizer is fertilizer composed of living matter, such as weathering of the remains of plants, animals, and humans. Organic fertilizers can be solid or liquid that is used to improve the physical, chemical, and biological soil. Organic fertilizer contains a lot of organic material than nutrient levels. Sources of organic matter can be compost, green manure, manure, crop residues (straw, stover, corn cobs, sugarcane bagasse, and coconut fiber), animal waste, industrial waste materials using agricultural and municipal wastes (garbage).

History

The history of the use of fertilizers is a part of the history Agriculture.Penggunaan fertilizer is estimated to have started since the beginning of man to know farming, which is about 5,000 years ago. Primitive forms of the use of fertilizers in improving soil fertility start from the old culture of human-watershed of the Nile, Euphrates, Indus, China, and Latin America. Agricultural lands are located around streams are very fertile for receiving nutrient-rich silt through floods occur every year. In Indonesia, the organic fertilizer has long been known to farmers. Indonesia's population are familiar with organic fertilizer before the implementation of the green revolution in Indonesia. After the green revolution, most farmers prefer to use artificial fertilizers for practical use, far fewer than organic fertilizers. The price was relatively low and easy to obtain. Most farmers are already highly dependent on artificial fertilizers so that it can have a negative impact on the development of production.Tumbuhnya awareness among farmers about the negative impact the use of synthetic fertilizers and other modern means of agriculture on the environment has made them switch from conventional farming to organic farming.

Type

1.Manure

Manure is a fertilizer derived from animal waste. Animals that manure is often used for manure is an animal that can be maintained by the community, such as goat droppings, cow, sheep, and chickens. Apart from the solid manure can also be a liquid derived from the urine (urine) animals. Manure contains macro and micro nutrients. Solid manure contains a lot of micronutrients, such as phosphorus, nitrogen, and potassium. Micro-nutrients contained in the manure of which calcium, magnesium, sulfur, sodium, iron, copper, and molybdenum. The nitrogen content in the urine of cattle is three times larger than the nitrogen content in solid waste.

Manure is composed of two parts, namely:

1. Cold fertilizer is a fertilizer derived from animal manure described slowly by microorganisms that do not generate heat, for example, fertilizer from the manure of cattle, buffalo, and pigs.
2. Hot fertilizer is a fertilizer derived from animal waste described microorganism rapidly causing heat, for example, fertilizer from manure goats, horses, and chickens.

Manure is helpful to provide macro and micro nutrients and has a high ion power tie that will streamline the materials - inorganic materials in soil, including inorganic fertilizers. Also, the manure can improve soil structure, so that plant growth can be optimized. Manure that has been ready to apply characterized by cold temperature, crumb, the original form is not visible, and the smell has diminished. If you do not have these characteristics, the manure is not ready to use. The use of immature fertilizer will inhibit plant growth, can even kill plants. Use of manure that is good is to be embedded so that evaporation can be reduced nutrients. The use of liquid manure that is best done after the plants grow so that the nutrients contained in the liquid manure will be quickly absorbed by plants

2.Green Manure

Green manure is an organic fertilizer that is derived from plants or in the form of crop residues. The plant material may be embedded in a green or after composted. Green manure can be a source of plant residues (the remaining harvest) or plants grown specifically as a producer of green manure, such as nuts and plants salviniales (Azolla). Types of plants used as green manure preferred source of this type of legume, because these plants contain a relatively high nutrient, especially nitrogen compared with other crops. Legume plants are also relatively easy to decompose so that the provision nutrient be faster. Useful green manure to increase the content of organic matter and nutrients in the soil, resulting in improved physical, chemical, and biological soil, which in turn have an impact on improving soil productivity and resilience of soil to erosion.

Green manures are used in:

The use of hedges, namely by developing the alley cropping system, in which a green manure crop planted as a hedge plant alternate with the main plant.

The use of cover crops, namely by developing crops grown, when the land was not planted with major crops or crops grown alongside staple crops when the main crop in the form of annual plants.

Compost

3.Compost

Compost is residual organic material derived from plants, animals, and organic waste which has undergone a process of decomposition or fermentation. Types of plants are often used for compost in between straw, rice husks and banana plants, weeds, vegetables were rotten, the rest of the corn plant, and coconut fiber. Material from cattle that are often used for compost among livestock manure, urine, animal feed is wasted, and liquid biogas. Aquatic plants are often used for compost among blue algae, aquatic weeds, water hyacinth, and Azolla.

Some uses of compost are:

1. Improve soil structure.
2. Strengthen the tie on aggregate (nutrients) of sandy soil.
3. Improve durability and water absorption.
4. Improve drainage and pore - pores in the soil.
5. Add and enable nutrients.
6. The compost is used by spreading around the plants. Compost that is worth using is ripe, marked by a decline compost temperature (below 400 C).

4.Humus

Humus is organic material derived from the degradation or decay of leaves and twigs of plants rot (decompose), which eventually transform into humus (topsoil), and then into the ground. Raw materials for humus is of the leaves or twigs falling, agricultural waste and animal husbandry, food industry, agro-industry, bark, sawdust (wood ash), pieces of wood, sewage sludge, household waste, and waste-municipal solid waste. Humus is a food source for plants, as well as good role models for the formation and maintains soil structure. Humus compounds also play a role in the binding of toxic chemicals in the soil and water. Additionally, humus can increase the capacity of soil water content, assist in holding water-soluble inorganic fertilizers, prevent erosion of soil, increase soil aeration, and raise the photochemical decomposition of the pesticide or toxic organic compounds. The main content of the compost is humus. Humus is the final determinant of the quality of soil fertility, so the use of humus as well as the use of compost.

Produced organic fertilizers

Produced organic fertilizer is organic fertilizer which is manufactured in factories using modern equipment. Some of the benefits produced organic fertilizers, namely:

1. Increasing the content of nutrients that plants need.
2. Improving plant productivity.
3. Stimulate the growth of roots, stems, and leaves.
4. Loosen and fertilize the soil.
5. In general, homemade organic fertilizer used by spreading around the plants, resulting in increased nutrient content effectively and efficiently to the plants by organic fertilizers.

Benefit

Various research indicates that most land-intensive agriculture has experienced declining productivity and land degradation, mainly associated with the very low content of organic carbon in the soil, which is 2%. To obtain optimal productivity takes about 2.5% organic carbon. Organic fertilizers are very useful for the improvement of agricultural production both in quality and quantity, reduce environmental pollution, and improve the quality of the land in a sustainable manner. The use of organic fertilizers in the long term can increase the productivity of land and prevent land degradation. Source material for organic fertilizer is very diverse, with physical characteristics and chemical constituents are so diverse that the effect of the use of organic fertilizers to the land and the plants can vary. Also, its role is large enough to repair the physical, chemical, and biological soil environment. Organic fertilizers added to the ground will experience several times phases of refurbishment by soil microorganisms to become organic humus. Organic materials also serve as a source of energy and food soil microbes that can increase the microbial activity in the supply of plant nutrients. 

The addition of organic material on the side as a nutrient source for plants, as well as a source of energy and nutrients for microbes. The basic ingredients of organic fertilizers derived from crop residues contain less hazardous materials. The use of manure, municipal sewage, and industrial waste as raw material compost because many contain harmful heavy metals and organic acids that can pollute the environment. During the composting process, some of these toxic substances will be concentrated in the final product of fertilizer. It is necessary for the selection of the basic ingredients of compost containing hazardous materials and toxic (B3). Organic fertilizers can act as a binder of primary granules into secondary grains in the formation of soil fertilizer. These circumstances affect the storage, water supply, soil aeration, and soil temperature carbon and nitrogen are many, such as straw or husk greater influence on the improvement of soil physical properties compared with decomposed organic material such as compost.

Organic fertilizers have important chemical functions such as the provision of macronutrients (nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, calcium, magnesium, and sulfur) and micronutrients such as zinc, copper, cobalt, barium, manganese, and iron, although relatively few. Macro and micro nutrients that are needed for plant growth, especially for lovers of ornamental plants. Many actors hobby and ornamental plant lovers asked about the composition and content of fertilizers and the percentage content of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium are right for plants seedlings, juvenile, or adult/heifers.

Function macronutrients:

1. Nitrogen (N):

• Stimulate plant growth overall
• Is part of the cell (organ) plant itself
• Serves for the synthesis of amino acids and proteins in plants
• Stimulates vegetative growth (the green color of leaves, leaf length, leaf width) and stem vegetative growth (height and size of the stem).
• Nitrogen-deficient plants are the symptoms: slow growth / stunted, yellowish green leaves, the leaves are narrow, short and tall, old leaves turn yellow and die quickly.

2. Phosphorus (P):

• Serves for the transport of energy metabolism in plants
• Stimulate flowering and fruiting
• Stimulate root growth
• Encourage the formation of seeds
• Stimulate plant cell division and increase cell tissue
• Phosphorus-deficient plants are the symptoms: the formation of the fruit/seeds and diminished, stunted, leaves turn purplish or reddish

3. Potassium (K):

• Functioning in the process of photosynthesis, transport of assimilation, enzymes, and minerals including water.
• Increasing the resistance /immunity plants against disease
• Elemental potassium-deficient plants are the symptoms: the stems and leaves become limp / fall, the leaves are dark green bluish green is not fresh and healthy, the tip of the leaves turn yellow and dry, raised patches of brown on a sheet.
• Organic fertilizers also work to increase the cation exchange capacity of the soil and form complex compounds with metal ions are toxic to plants such as aluminum, iron, and manganese.

Environmental Conservation

Ground cover plants (cover crop) can be used as organic fertilizer. The use of organic fertilizer alone, can not increase crop productivity and food security. Therefore, the integrated nutrient management system that combines organic fertilizers and inorganic fertilizers should be encouraged. Agricultural systems are referred to as LEISA (Low External Input and Sustainable Agriculture) using a combination of organic and inorganic fertilizers are based on the concept of good agricultural practices need to be done so that land degradation can be reduced to maintain environmental sustainability. Utilization of organic fertilizers and inorganic fertilizers to increase the productivity of land and agricultural production should be promoted and encouraged. Agricultural development programs that integrate livestock and crop (crop-livestock), as well as the use of legume crops in the form of the hallway (alley cropping) or ground cover plants (cover crop) as green manure or compost, needs to be intensified.

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