This document provides information about organic fertilizers, including their history, types, sources, and benefits. Some key points: - Organic fertilizers include animal and plant waste products that supply nutrients to soils and plants. Common types are manure, compost, bone meal and seaweed. - Sources include animal manures and byproducts, sewage sludge, plant residues, and minerals. Benefits are improving soil structure, releasing nutrients slowly, and being more environmentally friendly than synthetic fertilizers. - Historically, fertilization came from natural sources like manure and compost. The development of synthetic nitrogen fertilizers in the 1900s significantly increased global food production but also had environmental impacts.

1. INDEX
 Fertilizer :-
Fertilizer
History
 Organic Fertilizer :-
Organic Fertilizer
Types of Organic Fertilizer
Minerals
Animal source
Plants
Human waste
Benefits of Organic Fertilizers
Importance of organic fertilizer
Consumption of organic fertilizer
Effects of organic fertilizer on plants

2. INDEX
 Difference between organic and inorganic
fertilizer :-
 Farming application :-
 Comparison:-
Bulk density
Soil biology
Consistency

3. Fertilizer :-
A fertilizer (American English) is any material of natural or synthetic
origin that is applied to soil or to plant tissues to supply plant nutrients.
Fertilizers may be distinct from liming materials or other non-nutrient soil
amendments. Many sources of fertilizer exist, both natural and industrially
produced. For most modern agricultural practices, fertilization focuses on
three main macro nutrients: nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and potassium
(K) with occasional addition of supplements like rock flour for
micronutrients. Farmers apply these fertilizers in a variety of ways:
through dry or pelletized or liquid application processes, using large
agricultural equipment or hand-tool methods.
Historically fertilization came from natural or organic sources: compost,
animal manure, human manure, harvested minerals, crop rotations and

4. HISTORY :-
Management of soil fertility has preoccupied farmers for thousands of years.
Egyptians, Romans, Babylonians, and early Germans are all recorded as using
minerals or manure to enhance the productivity of their farms. John Bennet
Lawes, an English entrepreneur, began to experiment on the effects of various
manures on plants growing in pots in 1837, and a year or two later the
experiments were extended to crops in the field. One immediate consequence
was that in 1842 he patented a manure formed by treating phosphates with
sulfuric acid, and thus was the first to create the artificial manure industry. In
the succeeding year he enlisted the services of Joseph Henry Gilbert; together
they performed crop experiments at the Institute of Arable Crops Research.
The 1910s and 1920s witnessed the rise of the Haber process and the Ostwald
process. The Haber process produces ammonia (NH3 ) from methane (CH4 )
(natural gas) gas and molecular nitrogen (N2 ) from the air. The ammonia from
the Haber process is then partially converted into nitric acid (HNO3 ) in the
Ostwald process. After World War II, nitrogen production plants that had

5. The development of synthetic nitrogen fertilizer has significantly supported
global population growth. It has been estimated that almost half the people on
the Earth are currently fed as a result of synthetic nitrogen fertilizer use. The
use of phosphate fertilizers has also increased from 9 million tones per year in
1960 to 40 million tones per year in 2000. A maize crop yielding 6–9 tones of
grain per hectare (2.5 acres) requires 31– 50 kilograms (68–110 lb.) of phosphate
fertilizer to be applied; soybean crops require about half, 20–25 kg per hectare.
Yara International is the world's largest producer of nitrogen-based fertilizers.

6. ORGANIC FERTILIZER :-
"Organic fertilizers" can describe those fertilizers with an organic – biologic –
origin—that is, fertilizers derived from living or formerly living materials. Organic
fertilizers can also describe commercially available and frequently packaged
products that strive to follow the expectations and restrictions adopted by "organic
agriculture" and "environmentally friendly" gardening – related systems of food and
plant production that significantly limit or strictly avoid the use of synthetic
fertilizers and pesticides. The "organic fertilizer" products typically contain both
some organic materials as well as acceptable additives such as nutritive rock
powders, ground sea shells (crab, oyster, etc.), other prepared products such as
seed meal or kelp, and cultivated microorganisms and derivatives.
Fertilizers of an organic origin (the first definition) include animal wastes, plant
wastes from agriculture, seaweed, compost, and treated sewage sludge (bio solids).
Beyond manures, animal sources can include products from the slaughter of
animals – blood meal, bone meal, feather meal, hides, hoofs, and horns all are
typical components. Organically derived materials available to industry such as

7. On the other hand, marketed "organic fertilizers" may include, and promote,
processed organics because the materials have consumer appeal. No matter the
definition nor composition, most of these products contain less concentrated
nutrients, and the nutrients are not as easily quantified. They can offer soil-
building advantages as well as be appealing to those who are trying to farm /
garden more "naturally".
In terms of volume, peat is the most widely used packaged organic soil amendment.
It is an immature form of coal and improves the soil by aeration and absorbing
water but confers no nutritional value to the plants. It is therefore not a fertilizer
as defined in the beginning of the article, but rather an amendment. Coir, (derived
from coconut husks), bark, and sawdust when added to soil all act similarly (but not
identically) to peat and are also considered organic soil amendments – or
texturizers – because of their limited nutritive inputs. Some organic additives can
have a reverse effect on nutrients – fresh sawdust can consume soil nutrients as it
breaks down, and may lower soil pH – but these same organic texturizers (as well as
compost, etc.) may increase the availability of nutrients through improved cation
exchange, or through increased growth of microorganisms that in turn increase

8. Typical organic fertilizers include all animal waste including meat processing waste,
manure, slurry, and guano; plus plant based fertilizers such as compost; and bio
solids. Inorganic "organic fertilizers" include minerals and ash. The organic mess
refers to the Principles of Organic Agriculture, which determines whether a
fertilizer can be used for commercial organic agriculture, not whether the
fertilizer consists of organic compounds.
Examplesandsources:-
The main organic fertilizers are, peat, animal wastes, plant wastes
from agriculture, and treated sewage sludge.

9. Types of Organic Fertilizer :-
They are always more easily available because they are made from
locally sourced ingredients, and some of the organic fertilizers
include:-
 Composts: Organic waste that has decomposed by composting is referred to
as compost. Vegetable and plant waste, as well as animal excreta, are
examples of organic materials.
 Manure: Manure is formed of faces from animals (cow dung & goat
droppings).Goat manure is heavy in nitrogen and potassium, while cattle dung
is high in nitrogen and organic carbon.
 Vermipost: It is the result of numerous worm species degrading organic
material, resulting in a diverse combination of decomposing food waste.
 Bone Meal: It’s made up of animal bones and other ground slaughterhouse
waste. Phosphorus and amino acids are abundant in this food. Because it’s
organic, it’s also a slow-release fertilizer.

10. Minerals :-
Minerals can be mined from fossil products of animal activity, such as
greensand (anaerobic marine deposits), some limestone (fossil shell
deposits), and some rock phosphates (fossil guano). Adding limestone or
“liming” a soil is a way to raise ph. By raising the pH of a soil, microbial
growth can be stimulated, which in turn increases biological processes,
enabling nutrients to flow more freely through the soil. When nutrients
flow freely they are more accessible to plants and therefore can increase
plant health and mass. If the soil is already pH balanced, liming the soil,
would be ineffective.
 Rock phosphate
 Raw Langbeinite
 Rock dust
 Unprocessed natural potassium sulfate

11. Animal source :-
Animal sourced materials include both animal manures and residues from the
slaughter of animals.
Manures are derived from milk-producing dairy animals, egg-producing poultry,
and animals raised for meat and hide production, or sport and recreation.
Manure is an abundant resource with estimations for cattle manure in the US
alone reaching two billion tons annually, and one hen has the potential to
produce a cubic foot of manure every six months. By adding manure to crops it
adds nitrogen, potassium, phosphorus, sulfur, magnesium and calcium. While
also increasing soil stability by increasing organic material, increasing water
infiltration, it can add bacteria diversity and over time reduce the impacts of
soil erosion.
However, there is organic manure and non-organic manure. In order for manure
to be considered organic it must come from organic livestock or certified
organic growers. If organic manure is not available, they are permitted to use

12. Fresh manure, right from the stall, can cause issues because it can be too high
in ammonia, or contain bacteria from the animal’s gut. This can have an adverse
effect on plants as the ammonia can burn the roots and microbes from the
animal’s gut can harm the microorganisms in the soil, killing them, or
contaminate produce, such as E. coli and salmonella. There is also a risk of
introducing weeds, as seeds can pass through the gut of an animal relatively
unharmed, or there can be seeds in the bedding of the livestock, which is often
mixed in with the manure. Therefore, manure is required to be composted
which will ideally kill any seeds or pathogens and reduce the ammonia content.
Chicken litter, which consists of chicken manure and bedding, is an organic
fertilizer that has been proposed to be superior for conditioning soil for
harvest to synthetic fertilizers. It contains similar minerals to other
manures, while also having trace amounts of copper, zinc, magnesium,
boron, and chloride. Depending on the type of chicken litter obtained, it
may contain bird remains. This type of chicken litter should not be spread

13. Horse manure contains the perfect balance of Carbon to Nitrogen for
composting (30:1) and is a traditional garden soil amendment. However, careful
organic sourcing is critical because feed (and bedding materials) from fields
treated with the picolinic acid family of herbicides including aminopyralid,
clopyralid, and picloram (marketed in the US as Milestone and Grazon-) can pass
through a horse’s digestive tract, remaining unchanged in manure and compost
piles for long periods. These chemicals commonly affect potatoes, tomatoes,
and beans, causing deformed plants and poor or non-existent yields. Also, horse
de-wormers like Ivermectin can be detected in manure at levels harmful to
beneficial insects and organisms for up to 45 days. Tainted compost can not only
kill plants and beneficial organisms, but can create liability issues for owners.
Bat guano has been used as a fertilizer for thousands of years, most prominently
by the Incans, who valued bats and their guano so much, the penalty for killing
a bat was death. Bat guano is high in elements such as carbon, nitrogen, sulfur,
and phosphorus. Guano typically contains about 10% nitrogen, which helps
plants keep a healthy and vibrant green color and promotes rapid growth.

14. Urine, from humans as well as animals, is a fertilizer: urea in urine is a nitrogen
compound, and urine also contains phosphorus and potassium. Human urine
typically has about 3 times as much nitrogen as potassium, and more than 20
times as much nitrogen as phosphorus. The amount of potassium in urine is
variable, and depends on the amount of potassium in the person's diet. While
animal urine, as from cattle and pigs, is widely used on farmer's fields, human
urine other than as part of sewage sludge is not currently allowed to be used in
any commercial agricultural operations. However, there are ongoing studies that
have shown that aging urine in closed containers for 12–16 months eliminates
99% of harmful bacteria, due to increasing urea content and therefore ph.
Animal by-products. When any animal is butchered, only about 40% to 60% of
the live animal is converted to market product, with the remaining 40% to 60%
classed as by-products. These by products of animal slaughter, mostly inedible—
blood, bone, feathers, hides, hoofs, horns, -- can be refined into agricultural
fertilizers including blood meal, bone meal fish meal, and feather meal.

15. Plants :-
Processed organic fertilizers include compost, liquid plant manures, humic acid,
grain meal, amino acids, and seaweed extracts. Other examples are natural
enzyme-digested proteins. Decomposing crop residue (green manure) from prior
years is another source of fertility.
Compost provides little in the means of nutrients to plants, but it does provide
soil stability through increasing organic matter. Compost does help
microorganisms proliferate which in turn breaks down decaying plant material
into substantial bio-available nutrients for plant to easily assimilate. Compost
does not need to be fully plant-based: it is often made with a mix of carbon-rich
plant waste and nitrogen-rich animal waste including human excreta as a means
to remove pathogens and odor from the latter.
Grain meals can be made of corn gluten, alfalfa, cottonseed, or soybean. Most
supply nitrogen and potassium, but soybean meal provides nitrogen and
phosphorus. When initially spread they can cause an increase in ammonia within

16. Other ARS studies have found that algae used to capture nitrogen and
phosphorus runoff from agricultural fields can not only prevent water
contamination of these nutrients, but also can be used as an organic fertilizer.
ARS scientists originally developed the "algal turf scrubber" to reduce nutrient
runoff and increase quality of water flowing into streams, rivers, and lakes.
They found that this nutrient-rich algae, once dried, can be applied to
cucumber and corn seedlings and result in growth comparable to that seen using
synthetic fertilizers.
Ash produced by plant combustion is also an important K fertilizer.
Peat :-
Peat, or turf, is plant material that is only partially decomposed. It is a source
of organic matter. Soil with higher levels of organic matter are less likely to
compact, which improves the soil aeration and water drainage, as well as assists

17. Human waste :-
Sewage sludge, also known as biosolids, is effluent that has been treated,
blended, composted, and sometimes dried until deemed biologically safe. As a
fertilizer it is most commonly used on nonagricultural crops such as in
silviculture or in soil remediation. Use of bio-solids in agricultural production is
less common, and the National Organic Program of the USDA (NOP) has ruled
that bio solids are not permitted in organic food production in the U.S.; while
biologic in origin (vs mineral), sludge is unacceptable due to toxic metal
accumulation, pharmaceuticals, hormones, and other factors.
With concerns about human borne pathogens coupled with a growing preference
for flush toilets and centralized sewage treatment, bio solids have been
replacing night soil (from human excreta), a traditional organic fertilizer that is
minimally processed.

18. Benefits of Organic Fertilizers :-
Some of the guaranteed benefits that is assured if organic fertilizers are
regularly used on plants-but in moderation are as follows:-
Soil texture is improved.
Leaves of the plants are green and retain the actual color.
Retains the nutrients and brings back the lost ones from the plants.
Organic fertilizers unlike the synthetic fertilizers help in microbes
thrive.
Organic fertilizers are user friendly and human safe.
Alongside, they assure environment safety by being economic and
environment friendly.

19. Importance of organic fertilizer :-
The composting process provide some of the following benefits of organic
fertilizers and these are as follows:-
Made with 100% natural ingredients: Our organic fertilizers are made with no
residual flow additives. Considering our manufacturing process is built on a
circular concept, our products are completely natural.
Organic fertilizer has a great capability for absorbing moisture: Composting
results in an organic fertilizer pellet that absorbs a lot of moisture (up to three
three times its own weight). In poor soil, moisture (rain) evaporates or is washed
washed away quickly. As a result, less water will be wasted, and hence less
water will be used.
It is long lasting: Another benefit of organic fertilizer is that it may be stored
easily and for extended periods of time.

20.  The nutrients are slowly released and give ample amount of time for
plants to heal: Organic fertilizers release nutrients gradually, allowing the
crop to absorb them while growing. This ensures that the effect is both long-
lasting and effective.
 Organic fertilizers are applicable anytime and in all seasons of the year
with ease: Organic fertilizers can be applied to any soil type at any time of
year (with the exception of frost in the ground).
 During the growth season, the pellets can be disseminated manually or
mechanically using standard technology. Mineral washout is decreased, and
growth is accelerated as a result.

21. Consumption of organic fertilizer :-
The use of organic manures (farmyard manure, compost, green manure, etc.) is the
oldest and most widely practised means of nutrient replenishment in India. Prior to the
1950s, organic manures were almost the only sources of soil and plant nutrition. Owing
to a high animal population, farmyard manure is the most common of the organic
manures. Cattle account for 90 percent of total manure production. The proportion of
cattle manure available for fertilizing purposes decreased from 70 percent in the early
1970s to 30 percent in the early 1990s. The use of farmyard manure is about 2
tonnes/ha, which is much below the desired rate of 10 tonnes/ha.
At the present production level, the estimated annual production of crop residues is
about 300 million tonnes. As two-thirds of all crop residues are used as animal feed,
only one-third is available for direct recycling (compost making), which can add 2.5
million tonnes/year. The production of urban compost has been fluctuating around 6–7
million tonnes and the area under green manuring is about 7 million/ha.
Unlike fertilizers, the use of organic material has not increased much in the last two to

22. The Government is promoting the concept of the integrated nutrient supply
system (INSS), i.e. the combined use of mineral fertilizers, organic manures and
biofertilizers. Farmers are also aware of the advantage of INSS in improving soil
health and crop productivity. However, the adoption of INSS is limited by the
following constraints:
increasing trend to use cow manure as a source of fuel in rural areas;
increasing use of crop residues as animal feed;
extra cost and time required to grow green-manure crops;

handling problems with bulky organic manures;
problems in timely preparation of the field when agricultural waste and green
manure have to be incorporated and their decomposition awaited;

23. Year Capacity
(tonnes)
Production
(tonnes)
Distribution
(tonnes)
1992/93 5 401 2 005 1 600
1995/96 10 680 6 692 6 288
1998/99 16 446 8 010 5 065
2003/04 20 000 12 000 10 000
Consumption of organic fertilizer in years :-

24. effects of organic fertilizer on plants :-
Organic fertilizers can have the following effects on plants :-
 Improve plant growth by amending soil with nutrients it may lack.
 Help plants resist parasitic infestations by insects and other agents.
 Help plants resist some cases of disease.
 Improve soil structure, soil fertility, water holding capacity, physical and chemical
 properties, soil pH, microbial activity, root distribution, and crop production.
 Prevent erosion, cracking, and crusting.
 Help retain soil humidity and improve soil internal drainage.

25. Difference between organic and inorganic fertilizer :-
Organic fertilizer Inorganic Fertilizer
organic fertilizers, the origin of the raw
materials is vegetable and animal.
Inorganic fertilizers are prepared from rock
and minerals and are formed by physical
and chemical processes.
organic fertilizers are less soluble Inorganic fertilizers are more soluble.
organic fertilizers require less energy to
produce and may require less economic
effort
Inorganic fertilizers can generate waste and
their excessive use can cause damage to the
soil.
No exact amount of nutrients needed can be
measured
the exact amount of nutrient needed can be
measured and used
we can produce our own fertilizer by
making compost.
We can’t produce our own fertilizer at home
or farm they can made only in lab.

26. Farming application :-
In non-organic farming, a compromise between the use of artificial and organic
fertilizers is common, often using inorganic fertilizers supplemented with the
application of organics that are readily available such as the return of crop
residues or the application of manure.
Cover crops are also grown to enrich soil as a green manure through nitrogen
fixation from the atmosphere; as well as phosphorus (through nutrient
mobilization) content of soils.
Fertilizer trees aid organic farming by bringing nutrients from the depths of the
soil, and by assisting in the regulation of water usage.
Leguminous cover crops or fertilizer trees are also grown to enrich soil as a
green manure through nitrogen fixation from the atmosphere as well as

27. Comparison :-
 Bulk density :
In general, the nutrients in organic fertilizer are both more diluted and
also much less readily available to plants. This may be however desired as
a form of slow-release fertilizer containing insoluble nitrogen. By their
nature, organic fertilizers increase physical and biological nutrient storage
mechanisms in soils, mitigating risks of over-fertilization. Organic
fertilizer nutrient content, solubility, and nutrient release rates are
typically much lower than mineral (inorganic) fertilizers. A University of
North Carolina study found that potential mineralizable nitrogen (PMN) in
the soil was 182–285% higher in organic mulched systems than in the
synthetics control.
There do exist 'fast-release' organic fertilizers with a risk of fertilizer

28.  Soil biology :-
Organic fertilizer have been n known to improve biodiversity (soil life) and
long-term productivity of soil, and may prove a large depository for excess
carbon dioxide.
Organic nutrients increase the abundance of soil organisms by providing
organic matter and micronutrients for organismal relationships such as
fungal mycorrhiza, (which aid plants in absorbing nutrients), and can
drastically reduce external inputs of pesticides, energy and fertilizer, at
the cost of decreased yield.

29.  Consistency:-
Organic fertilizers from composts and other sources can be quite
variable from one batch to the next. Without batch testing,
amounts of applied nutrient cannot be precisely known.
Nevertheless, one or more studies have shown they are at least
as effective as chemical fertilizers over longer periods of use.

30. Reference
 Ullmann's Encyclopedia of Industrial Chemistry
 Fundamentals of Turfgrass Management, Fifth Edition
 "Nitrogen-Phosphorus-Potassium Values of Organic Fertilizers“
 "GUANO: BATS' GIFT to GARDENERS“
 www.sciencedirect.com
 https://doraagri.com/what-is-organic-fertilizer-for-plants/