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(source: Sharing
Common Ground, The Fertilizer Institute & The Canadian Fertilizer
Institute) |
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Nature is the source for the ingredients in commercial fertilizers.
Nitrogen fertilizer is manufactured by capturing nitrogen from the
atmosphere. Phosphate fertilizer is mined from several
thousand-year-old sea beds, and potash fertilizers are mined from
naturally occurring potassium mineral deposits. |
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Fertilizers are
natural-born nutrients that plants can digest: "Plant Food". Nutrients
in fertilizers are the same as those in foods we eat and in our
bodies. Fertilizers are not toxic. In fact, these nutrients are
in the ground we walk on and the air we breathe. |
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Conventional farming
practices and commercial fertilizers have helped feed the world while
saving habitats that would otherwise have to be used for crops.
In fact, during the last 40 years, North American farmers actually
used less land while tripling food production. |
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The quantity and
quality of food provided by conventional high-yield farming has
allowed a growing population to enjoy unprecedented abundance for
decades, without farmers having to use additional land for crops.
Literally, millions more acres would be needed if we relied on less
productive methods - and we'd also have less food. |
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Nitrogen (N) is a primary building block
for all life. It is a vital component in plant genes, enzymes
and plant chlorophyll, and comprises 16% of protein. The air we
breathe is about 78% nitrogen, but there are very few plants that can
make direct use of nitrogen in the air. To make this nitrogen
available to support life, fertilizer producers take nitrogen out of
the atmosphere and convert it into a form plants can use.
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Nitrogen fertilizer
manufacturing captures this naturally occurring atmospheric nitrogen,
and combines it with hydrogen from natural gas under heat and pressure
to form anhydrous ammonia. The ammonia is then used to make
other nitrogen fertilizer products. Once in the soil, the
nitrogen from fertilizer is chemically identical to nitrogen derived
from animal manure, crop residue or legumes. |
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Fertilizer is food for plants and helps farmers
nourish the soil and grow a healthy and bountiful crop. Experts
estimate that without commercial fertilizers, the world would be
without one-third of its food supply. |
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Link to:
sharing
common ground
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