This document discusses the implications of fertilizer use on environmental pollution in India. It provides background on India's increasing fertilizer usage to boost agricultural productivity since the Green Revolution. While fertilizers have significantly increased food production, contributing to over half of overall production gains, their overuse can pollute the environment. Excess nitrogen and phosphorus from fertilizers can leach into groundwater or run off into water bodies, lowering water quality and causing eutrophication. The document examines fertilizer usage and composition trends in India as well as their effects on soil, water, air quality, and human and crop health.

1. IMPLICATIONS OF
FERTILIZER USE
VIS-À-VIS ENVIRONMENTAL
POLLUTION
PRESENTED BY:-
MUNISH SHARMA
Dept. of Soil Science
College of Agriculture

2. INTRODUCTION
In India agriculture provides employment to nearly
58% of Indian people.
With the advent of green revolution we have been able
to achieve self-sufficiency in food grains but the
increasing population is causing problem.
There is hardly any scope for further increase in area
under cultivation, so additional food grain production
can come only through increased soil productivity.

3.  So other sources like Fertilizers are the
widely used medium to increase the food
productivity.

4. FERTILIZERS
• Fertilizer is any organic or inorganic material of
natural or synthetic origin that is added to soil to
supply one or more plant nutrients essential to
growth of plants.
• Mined inorganic fertilizers have been used for
many centuries, whereas chemically synthesized
inorganic fertilizers were only widely developed
during industrial revolution.

5. • Fertilizer use in India started in 1906 but not much
growth took place up to 1965.
• Evolution of fertilizer responsive HYVs of rice and
wheat - a turning point.
• Fertilizer consumption and foodgrain production
increased rapidly after mid 60s.

6. • Fertilizer played a key role in ensuring self
sufficiency in foodgrain production.
• Role of fertilizer to enhance in future in view of
depleting soil fertility and intensification of
agriculture.

7. PRESENT STATUS
• Fertilizers alone account for 55% increase in
food production.
• 22.57 Mt of fertilizer (N + P2O5 + K2O) was
used in 2007–08 as compared to mere 69.8
thousand tonnes in 1950–51.

8. CONSUMPTION OF FERTILIZERS IN SELECTED
COUNTRIES IN 2008(Kg/ha)
COUNTRY NITROGEN
(N)
PHOSPHORUS
(P2O5)
POTASH
(K2O)
TOTAL
EGYPT 11139.1 180.4 55.0 1374.5
CANADA 1816.8 575.0 178.0 2569.8
USA 10906.0 3072.0 2531.4 16509.4
CHINA 33236.7 10500.0 4685.0 48421.7
INDIA 15090.5 6506.2 3312.6 24909.3
PAKISTAN 3035 629.9 25 3689.9
FRANCE 2098.9 295.6 390.4 2784.9
AUSTRIA 95 21 23 142

9. STATE- WISE CONSUMPTION OF FERTLIZERS
DURING 2009-10
S.
No.
STATE/UT PER HECTARE FERTILIZER CONSUMPTION IN Kg
N P2O5 K2O TOTAL
1. ANDHRA PRADESH 124.76 63.04 34.35 222.15
2. KARNATAKA 73.49 46.29 34.30 154.08
3. KERELA 41.66 21.76 34.53 97.96
4. TAMIL NADU 107.18 46.13 56.94 210.25
5. PUDDUCHERRY 569.92 185.62 181.40 936.94
6. A&N ISLANDS 39.96 30.64 7.50 78.10
7. GUJARAT 89.59 38.75 16.72 145.06
8. MADHYA PRADESH 45.94 29.21 5.63 80.79
9. CHATTISGARH 58.83 34.07 12.17 105.07
10. MAHARASHTRA 64.81 44.44 25.60 134.85
11. RAJASTHAN 32.60 14.50 1.61 48.71
Indian Fertilizer Scenario (2010)

10. CONT…..
S.
NO.
STATE/UT PER HECTARE FERTILIZER CONSUMPTION IN Kg
N P2O5 K2O TOTAL
12. GOA 19.61 19.45 14.05 53.11
13. DAMAN & DIU 116.73 35.60 3.00 155.33
14. D & N HAVELI 28.90 17.21 1.78 47.89
15. HARYANA 145.42 42.43 9.25 197.10
16. PUNJAB 165.74 46.69 9.20 221.63
17. UTTAR PRADESH 114.77 39.41 11.36 165.53
18. UTTARAKHAND 93.18 20.34 5.40 118.82
19. HIMACHAL PRADESH 3.71 11.90 11.53 55.15
20. JAMMU & KASHMIR 65.70 21.32 11.46 98.48
21. DELHI 39.27 5.52 0.15 44.93
22. BIHAR 112.23 29.25 20.74 162.22
Indian Fertilizer Scenario (2010)

11. CONT….
S.
NO.
STATE/UT PER HECTARE FERTILIZER CONSUMPTION IN Kg
N P2O5 K2O TOTAL
23. JHARKHAND 38.94 21.75 7.65 68.35
24. ODISHA 33.20 14.40 9.39 59.99
25. WEST BENGAL 75.18 50.25 47.47 172.90
26. ASSAM 31.11 8.49 16.40 56.00
27. TRIPURA 28.48 7.87 9.00 45.34
28. MANIPUR 44.70 3.52 1.07 49.29
29. MEGHALAYA 9.91 3.91 0.59 14.12
30. NAGALAND 0.96 0.43 0.24 1.63
31. ARUNACHAL PRADESH 1.32 0.31 0.11 1.74
32. MIZORAM 21.56 24.79 9.90 56.25
ALL INDIA 78.92 35.96 18.34 133.22
Indian Fertilizer Scenario (2010)

12. CONSUMPTION OF FERTILIZERS IN TERMS OF
NUTRIENTS(MT)
YEAR KHARIF
(N+P+K)
RABI
(N+P+K)
TOTAL
(N+P+K)
2005-06 19197 28776 47973
2006-07 18592 30389 48981
2007-08 20597 29361 49958
2008-09 23768 33696 59363
2009-10 20274 32366 63239
2010-11 19811 35322 55133
DIRECTORATE OF AGRICULTURE, (HP)

13. CONSUMPTION OF FERTILIZERS IN TERMS OF
NUTRIENTS(MT)
YEAR KHARIF
(N+P+K)
RABI
(N+P+K)
TOTAL
(N+P+K)
BILASPUR 1266 1033 2288
CHAMBA 874 446 1320
HAMIRPUR 1603 989 2592
KANGRA 3548 5397 8945
KINNAUR 41 210 251
KULLU 1047 4004 5051
LAHAUL-SPITI 90 318 408
MANDI 2668 3978 6646
SHIMLA 1416 11062 12477
SIRMAUR 1606 1981 3567
SOLAN 2166 1996 4063
UNA 3499 4026 7525
DIRECTORATE OF AGRICULTURE, (HP)

14. ENVIRONMENTAL BENEFITS OF
FERTILIZERS
 Reduces pressure on land
by leaving less fertile land
for other purposes.
 Improves quality of human
life.
 Good plant population
reduces erosion and cleans
air.

15.  Helps in conservation of some natural vegetation
with native flora and fauna.
 Has allowed farmers to continuously achieve high
yields on same land for many years, eliminating
need for clearing new lands.

16. CONSTRAINTS
 Although increase food production in terms of
quantity has largely kept pace with demands of
growing population, but quality of food available is
declining.
 Fertilizers have surely affected soil, water, food
quality, human health and atmosphere.
 These effects are very difficult to be parted with
when amount of chemical fertilizers being used are
increasing at an alarming rate.

17.  Fertilizers contain three primary plant nutrients:
mostly nitrogen and phosphorous with smaller
amounts of potassium.
 Nitrogen and phosphorus- important ones as used in
larger amount by farmers.

18. POLLUTION BY NITROGEN
• Leaching to field drains.
• Gaseous loss as nitrogen oxides after denitrification.
• Volatilisation as ammonia.

19. LEACHING OF NITROGEN IN RELATION TO
AGRICULTURAL CONDITIONS
FACTOR LESS LEACHING MORE LEACHING
CROP vigorous crop, established
crop, grassland and
permanent crops.
Poor crop or fallow,
seedbed application,
arable cropping.
SOIL Heavy soil, poor drainage. Light soil, good drainage.
TIME OF N APPLICATION At beginning of main
growing period or during
active crop growth.
At end of or out of season,
eg:-autumn or winter.
RATE OF N At or below recommended
rate.
High or irregularly
distributed rainfall.
CLIMATE Low rainfall High or irregularly
distributed rainfall.
Nijhoff (1983)

20. POLLUTION BY PHOSPHORUS
• P - poorly taken up by crops.
• Remaining - effectively converted to water insoluble
form.
• Leaching - negligible.
• Soil erosion – important.
• P adsorbed on soil particles may be carried into
surface waters.

21. REMOVAL OF PHOSPHORUS
PROCESS % OF FERTILIZER P
AVERAGE RANGE
CROP REMOVAL 20 5-30
HELD IN SOIL 80 70-95
LEACHING AND RUN-OFF Less than 1 0-10
Nijhoff (1983)

22. POLLUTION BY POTASSIUM
• K – taken up by crops to variable extents.
• Remainder – adsorbed by cation exchange complex
of soil.
• Very little loss by- leaching.

23. REMOVAL OF POTASSIUM
PROCESS % OF FERTILIZER K
AVERAGE RANGE
CROP REMOVAL 80-85 50-100
HELD IN SOIL 15 0-50
LEACHING AND RUN-OFF Less than 5 0-10
Nijhoff (1983)

24.  Growing crop does not take up all nutrients ions in
fertilizer applied to field soil. Three things can
happen to these residuals in the soil:-
• May remain in soil .
• May be added to water by process of leaching
through soil or running off surface of soil.
• May be lost to atmosphere by volatilization.

25. EFFECTS OF FERTILIZERS
1. Effects on Soil
2. Effects on Water
3. Effects on Atmosphere
4. Effects on Food Quality
5. Effects on Human health & Cattle
6. Effects on the Quality of the Crops

26. EFFECTS ON SOIL
Fertilizers if applied in excess can cause great
harm to soil. These can lead to :-
 Infertile soil
 Acidic soil
 Increased micro organisms
 Salt burns
 Ground water pollution
 Excess growth

27. INFERTILE SOIL
Fertilizers may help plants grow, but they do not
help soil they grow in.
In fact, they can do quite the opposite.
Unnaturally high levels of nutrients that some
chemical fertilizers contain can over saturate soil
and cancel out the effectiveness of other vital
nutrients.

28. ACIDIC SOIL
Fertilizers can make soil infertile by increasing its
acidity.
Many chemical fertilizers contain sulfuric and
hydrochloric acid, which if used in excess can cause
serious harm to microorganisms (specifically the
type that helps supply plants with nitrogen).
This can have a serious impact on the soil's pH and
adversely affect plant growth.

29. INCREASED MICROORGANISMS
Nitrogen-rich chemical fertilizers can have
complete opposite effect on soil in comparison to
more acidic fertilizers.
Too much nitrogen can lead to microorganism
population boom.
In large enough numbers, these microorganisms,
instead of helping plants, will hurt them, as they
will consume all of organic material and nutrients
in surrounding soil.

30. On other side useful microbes like nitrogen fixing
bacteria are destroyed.

31. GROUNDWATER POLLUTION
Plants can only absorb a certain amount of nutrients.
Unused fertilizer seeps into ground, where it can be
carried by rain and irrigation ditches into streams,
rivers, lakes, reservoirs and oceans.
Chemical compounds in fertilizer can contaminate
drinking water supplies and disrupt ecosystems.

32. SALT BURNS
Chemical fertilizers are often very salty.
Over-application of chemical fertilizers can thus
contribute to plants developing unsightly “salt
burns”.
These occur when over saturation of salt leads to
certain areas of plant becoming dehydrated, and
plant tissues dry out.

33. EXCESS GROWTH
Due to high potency of chemical fertilizers, they
can sometimes lead to plants becoming too big for
their own health.
Larger limbs and thicker foliage translates to
considerable increase weight, which can put stress
on plant's roots.

34. EFFECTS ON WATER
Chemical fertilizers pollute water bodies
mainly as follows:
Leaching
Run off
Eutrophication

35. LEACHING
 Washing of water-soluble
compounds present in
fertilizers in excess amount
out of soil .
 Movement of portion of
colloids into lower layers or
subsoil rock.

36. GROUND WATER POLLUTION IN DIFFERENT PARTS
OF INDIA
RISK ZONE AVERAGE
FERTILIZER N
CONSUMPTIO
N (kg/ha)
AVERAGE NO3
IN GROUND
WATER (mg/l)
GROUND
WATER
DEVELOPMENT
(%OF TOTAL
AVAILABLE IN
1985)
REGION
(STATES)
Little or no risk 2 6.8 <2 J&K, North
eastern States
Low risk 4-11 8-45 5-22 HP, MP, Orissa,
Maharashtra
Moderate risk 14-53 13-50 16-40 UP, Uttranchal,
Bihar, Jharkhand,
WB, Andhra
Pradesh, Gujarat
High risk 118-163 55-100 70-100 Punjab, Haryana
Handa (1986)

37.  Water flow that occurs
when soil is infiltrated to
full capacity and excess
water from rain,
meltwater, or other
sources flows over land.
 May carry fertilizers
along with water .
RUN OFF

38. EUTROPHICATION
 Enrichment of surface waters
with plant nutrients.
 Associated with
anthropogenic sources of
nutrients.
 Process of change from one
trophic state to higher
trophic state by addition of
nutrients.

39. SYMPTOMS AND IMPACTS OF
EUTROPHICATION
 Increase in production and biomass of
phytoplankton, attached algae, and macrophytes.
Shift in habitat characteristics due to change in
assemblage of aquatic plants.
 Replacement of desirable fish (e.g. salmonids in
western countries) by less desirable species.
 Production of toxins by certain algae.

40.  Increasing operating expenses of public water
supplies, including taste and odour problems,
especially during periods of algal blooms.
 Deoxygenation of water, especially after collapse of
algal blooms, usually resulting in fish kills.
 Economic loss due to change in fish species, fish
kills, etc.

41.  Infilling and clogging of irrigation canals with aquatic
weeds.
 Loss of recreational use of water due to slime, weed
infestation, and noxious odour from decaying algae.
 Impediments to navigation due to dense weed growth.

43. EFFECTS ON HUMAN HEALTH
& CATTLE
Many diseases have been noted in humans due to
use of Chemical Fertilizers such as:-
Methaeglobinemia,
Japanese encephalitis (JE),
Cancer etc

44. Cattle get affected by many diseases when they
graze on fields, which have high content of
chemical fertilizers such as:-
 Bioaccumulation in bodies of animals.
Loss in milk production
Methaeglobinemia
Reproductive problems
Cancer etc.

45. TOTAL CONCENTRATION OF SELECTED HEAVY
METALS AND TRACE ELEMENTS (mg/kg of dry weight)
SOURCE As Cd Zn Cu Pb Ni
Urea <0.04 <0.2 Nd <0.6 <0.4 <0.2
DAP 9.9-16.2 4.6-35.5 10.3 <2.41 2.1-3.7 7.4-22.2
MOP 0.4 <0.2 4.59 <2.35 <0.4-10 <0.2
TSP 10.3 15.0 159 3.5 11 17
Tarafdar et al (2009)

46. EFFECTS ON FOOD QUALITY
 Amount of vitamin C decreases with excessive
application of potassic fertilizers.
 Quality and quantity of protein produced by plant.
 Increases vulnerability of crop to pests and
diseases.

47. EFFECTS ON ATMOSPHERE
Green house effect:- increase in nitrogen oxides due
to nitrogenous fertilizers use like urea.
Ammonia emission from fertilized lands, may be
oxidized and turn into nitric acid, sulfuric acid from
industrial sources, create acid rain after the chemical
transformations.
Nitrous oxide content in the atmosphere has increased
by about 25 % over the previous century. About 1/3rd
of this increase is thought to be due to agricultural
practices.

48. Adding urea fertilizer to soil enhances methane
emission further leading to green house effect.

49. EFFECTS ON QUALITY OF
CROP
 Leads to dwarfism of crops.
 Affect growth of elongating hormones of crops resulting into
dwarf crops.
With excessive use of urea, plants become succulent and
dark green colour thus becoming more vulnerable to pests
and diseases.
 Increases growth of plant but weakens stem.
 Reduces quality of seeds.

50. MEAN GRAIN YIELD ( t / ha ) OF CROPS UNDER LONG TERM
FERTILIZATION AND MANURING
LOCATION CROPS MEAN GRAIN YIELD ( t /ha )
Unfertilized 100% NPK 100% NPK
+ FYM
150%
NPK
Barrackpore
(27 years)
Rice 1.6 3.9 4.1 4.3
Wheat 0.8 2.4 2.5 2.9
Bhubaneswar
(22 years)
Rice 1.6 2.8 3.5 3.0
Wheat 1.4 3.0 3.7 3.3
Ludhiana
(29 years)
Maize 0.4 2.6 3.2 2.5
Wheat 1.0 4.8 5.0 4.9
Pantnagar
(28 years)
Rice 3.1 5.3 6.0 5.3
Wheat 1.5 3.8 4.5 4.1
Palampur
(26 years)
Maize 0.3 3.2 4.6 4.0
Wheat 0.3 2.5 3.3 3.0
Swarup et al., (2000)

51. OTHER EFFECTS ON ENVIRONMENT
• Adverse effects on fish population and other aquatic
animals.
• Decreased potability of water.

52. PROMOTION OF ENVIRONMENTALLY
SUSTAINABLE FERTILIZER USE
There are several things to keep in mind to protect
environment when using fertilizer:
• Get your soil tested regularly.

53. • Know nutrient needs of your crop.
• Apply fertilizers at proper time.

54. • Take extra precautions on slopes.
• If you use organic fertilizer sources, have them
tested.

55. • Apply fertilizers only to healthy plants or reduce
amount to unhealthy plants.
• Store your fertilizer materials properly.

56. • Use plant debris and compost as source of nutrients.
• Break up fertilizer applications on sandy soils.
• Follow up fertilizer applications with light irrigation.

57. Alternatives
Alternative of Chemical Fertilizers: The
Organic Manure
 Farm Yard Manure (FYM) Cow Dung
 Green Manure
 Vermi Compost
 Bio Fertilizers

58. FARM YARD MANURE
 Decomposed mixture of
dung and urine of farm
animals .
Along with litter and left
over material from
roughages or fodder fed
to cattle.

59. VERMICOMPOST
Process of composting
using various worms,
usually red wigglers,
white worms, and other
earthworms.
 Create heterogeneous
mixture of decomposing
vegetable or food waste,
bedding materials, and
vermicast.

60. GREEN MANURE
 Growing crop, such as
clover or grass, that is
ploughed under soil to
improve fertility.
Can also reduce erosion.
If crop is leguminous,
add nitrogen to soil.

61. BIOFERTILIZERS
 Are ready to use live formulates.
 Made of beneficial microbes.
 On application mobilize the availability of
nutrients by their biological activities in
particular .
 Help in build up micro flora and in turn soil
health in general.

63. OBJECTIVES OF
ORGANIC FARMING
 To encourage biological cycles in farming
system.
 To enhance and maintain long term soil fertility.
 To mobilize organic matter and nutrients in soil.
 To use renewable resources.
 To avoid pollution.
 To maintain genetic diversity.
 To produce qualitative food in sufficient quantity
acceptable socially and economically.

64. COMPARISION
Characters Chemical fertilizers Organic fertilizers
Production Centralized Decentralized
Process Chemical Biological
Energy Budget Energy intensive Low energy bill
Raw materials Based on non-renewable energy
sources
Atm. N for N fixers, cow
dung, green manure etc.
Toxicity High Low
Losses N due to leaching, volatilization and
denitrification; P due to fixation
Negligible.

65. Characters Chemical Fertlizers Organic fertilizers
Pollution Exists due to indiscriminate use. Pollution free & environment
friendly
Residual effect Nil(N) +ve
Cost of Production High Low
Shelf-life Long Short
Accessibility Affordable section Small and marginal farmers
Irrigation More useful to irrigated crops. Useful for both irrigated and
rainfed crops.
Microbe activity Low High
Long term effect Deteriorates the soil health Improves the soil health.
Singh (2007)

66. BENEFITS
 Environmental friendly,
 Restoration of soil fertility and productivity,
 Production of quality foods,
 Avoidance of pollution of soil, water and air,

67.  Uses low cost technology.
 No need of big fertilizer producing factories
causing pollution,
 Sustainable agricultural production.

68. YIELD AND YIELD ATTRIBUTES OF RICE UNDER CONVENTIONAL AND
ORGANIC CROP MANAGEMENT IN A FIXED PLOT EXPERIMENT
TREATMENT YIELD (t/ha) NO. OF
EAR
HEAD/ m2
GRAINS
/EAR
HEAD
GRAIN
WT./EAR
HEAD (g)
GRAIN STRAW
RICE (2001)
Unfertilised (control) 2.34 3.09 196 43 0.63
100% NPK 5.15 6.59 250 94 1.68
75% NPK + 25%
N(FYM)
5.24 6.48 258 95 1.75
Soil test based NPK 5.53 6.86 285 94 1.71
Organic farming 3.84 4.69 236 77 1.65
Yadav et al., (2002)

69. YIELD AND YIELD ATTRIBUTES OF WHEAT UNDER CONVENTIONAL
AND ORGANIC CROP MANAGEMENT IN A FIXED PLOT EXPERIMENT
TREATMENT YIELD (t/ha) NO. OF
EAR
HEAD/ m2
GRAINS/
EAR
HEAD
GRAINS
WT./ EAR
HEAD (g)
GRAIN STRAW
Wheat (2001-02)
Unfertilised (control) 2.11 2.91 238 26 1.16
100% NPK 4.82 6.54 375 38 1.70
75% NPK + 25%
N(FYM)
5.20 6.95 370 42 1.74
Soil test based NPK 5.45 7.72 380 42 1.93
Organic farming 4.16 5.35 282 35 1.73
Yadav et al., (2002)

70. CONCLUSION
Today, use of fertilizers is seen as a necessary
agricultural technology.
Firstly soil analysis should be performed carefully, after
then, fertilizers should be applied to soil.
The structure and chemical content of the soil should be
identified and most appropriate type of fertilizers
should be selected.

71. No question arises on ability of Chemical Fertilizers to
increase productivity of soil.
 But this is also true that it has many ill effects on
environment.
The effects of chemical fertilizers can easily be avoided
by :-
applying recommended doses of fertilizers
going for organic manures

72.  In the end it can be concluded that fertilizers are a
necessary evil.
Application of fertilizers at right place, right dose and
right time without causing any harm to environment
can lead to greater productivity and greater results.