Review on Organic Fertilizer and Its Roles in Sustaining Soil Fertility in Ethiopia

Abstract

Organic fertilizers increase the quality and yield of agricultural crops in ways similar to inorganic fertilizers. As the price of synthetic fertilizers continues to increase, manure is becoming a more valuable and less expensive source of nitrogen fertilizer. Crop producers are increasingly buying manure from livestock producers or adding livestock to their crop operations so that they can incorporate manure into their practices. On-manufactured nitrogen fertilizers are increasingly being used as a means to reduce vulnerability to the price changes in fossil fuels. The most common alternatives to non manufactured nitrogen fertilizers identified include green manures and integrating livestock into crop production. These practices, combined with other techniques such as conservation tillage, have shown to greatly decrease the need for synthetic fertilizers by increasing nutrient efficiency and improving soil health. Organic nutrient source improves the physical, chemical and biological quality of soil besides providing both macro and micro nutrients to crops. The improvement in qualities include improvement in soil structure, water holding capacity, electrical conductivity, bulk density, lesser soil erosion, preventing the leaching of nutrients and provide nutrients to soil micro flora.

Keywords: Compost, Organic fertilizer; Vermicompost

DOI: 10.7176/JNSR/12-4-02

Publication date: February 28^th 2021