In many parts of the world food security is at risk. One of the biophysical root causes of falling per-capita food production is the declining quality and quantity of soils. To reverse this trend and increase soil fertility soil and plant nutrients have to be replenished. This review provides a literature survey of experiences of using multi-nutrient rock fertilizers for soil fertility enhancem...

Both organic and conventional farming processes require energy input in the form of diesel fuel for farming equipment, animal feed, and fertilizer compounds. The most significant difference between the two methods is the use in conventional farming of mineral fertilizers and pesticides that are minimally employed in organic management. It is argued that organic farming is more environmentally f...

The activity concentration of naturally occurring radionuclides K, Ra and Th have been measured in different brands of fertilizer samples in Saudi Arabia using sodium iodide gamma spectrometry. The results of measurements showed that the mean (ranges) of specific activities for Ra, Th and K activities in the nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium fertilizers are 64 (35.8 120.7), 17 (3.2 56.8) and 2...

In many parts of the world food security is at risk. One of the biophysical root causes of falling per-capita food production is the declining quality and quantity of soils. To reverse this trend and increase soil fertility soil and plant nutrients have to be replenished. This review provides a literature survey of experiences of using multi-nutrient rock fertilizers for soil fertility enhancem...

A study was conducted to assess the impact of different nutrient combination of field tomato on post harvest storage life and organoleptic quality of fresh fruits. Fourteen different treatment combinations comprising two organic manures (Farmyard manure and vermicompost), inorganic fertilizers and biofertilizer in different levels were laid out in RBD with three replications during 2005-06 and ...

Cropland soil organic carbon (SOC) is undergoing substantial alterations due to both environmental and anthropogenic changes. Although numerous case studies have been conducted, there remains a lack of quantification of the consequences of such environmental and anthropogenic changes on the SOC sequestration across global agricultural systems. Here, we conducted a global meta-analysis of SOC ch...

Energy consumption can vary signifi cantly between conventional and organic production systems when accounting for direct energy inputs as well as indirect energy involved in manufacturing, shipping and applying pesticides and nitrogen-based fertilizers. Because organic agriculture reduces the amount of indirect energy inputs, it is often assumed that organic agriculture is less energy intensiv...

Increasing diffuse nitrate loading of surface waters and groundwater has emerged as a major problem in many agricultural areas of the world, resulting in contamination of drinking water resources in aquifers as well as eutrophication of freshwaters and coastal marine ecosystems. Although empirical correlations between application rates of N fertilizers to agricultural soils and nitrate contamin...