Need of Fertilizers: In agriculture we convert solar energy into chemical energy, i.e., food, feed or fibre. It is common knowledge that this is achieved with the help of chlorophyll in plants.
Keeping at optimum other conditions such as solar radiation, temperature etc., and the more the chlorophyll the higher the biomass and it is likely that more food is produced. However, for doing this, plants need adequate supply of 13 elements (N. P, K, Ca, Mg, S, Fe, Mn, Zn, Cu, B. Mo, CI) from soil, which are known as essential plant nutrients.
Fertilizers are the chemicals that supply these essential plant nutrients. Fertilizers are the chemicals that supply these essential plant nutrients, mostly N, P and K, which are removed by crop plants in the largest quantities.
Contrary to lowering the rates of fertilizer application, Indian farmers may have to think of fertilizing for crop production as well as for soil fertility resilience. Thus, fertilizer has been and will continue to be the king input in India’s achieving self-sufficiency in foodgrain production.