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Fertilizer
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Fertilizer is a substance added to soil to improve plants' growth and yield. First used by ancient farmers, fertilizer technology developed significantly as the chemical needs of growing plants were discovered. Modern synthetic fertilizers are composed mainly of nitrogen, phosphorous, and potassium compounds with secondary nutrients added. The use of synthetic fertilizers has significantly improved the quality and quantity of the food available today, although their long-term use is debated by environmentalists.
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Fertilizer is not a magic bullet. Interventions designed to promote increased use of fertilizer should be developed within the context of a wider sector strategy that recognizes the importance of supplying complementary inputs, strengthening output markets, and appropriately sequencing interventions.
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Fertilizer research is currently focusing on reducing the harnful environmental impacts of fertilizer use and finding new, less expensive sources of fertilizers. Such things that are being investigated to make fertilizers more environmentally friendly are improved methods of application, supplying fertilizer in a form which is less susceptible to runoff, and making more concentrated mixtures. New sources of fertilizers are ... being investigated. It has been found that sewage sludge contains many of the nutrients that are needed for a good fertilizer. Unfortunately, it also contains certain substances such as lead, cadmium, and mercury in concentrations which would be harmful to plants. Efforts are underway to remove the unwanted elements, making this material a viable fertilizer.
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Fertilizer application rates are known to vary depending upon the type of crops and soils. A typical phosphate fertilizer application rate is about 40 kg per hectare. Fertilizers are available in over 100 different blends with varying concentrations of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium. The resulting increase in soil concentrations of Ra-226 is only on the order of 0.002 pCi/g for 20 years of repeated fertilizer applications. By comparison, natural soils contain radium in concentrations ranging from 0.1 to 3 pCi/g.
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Howard Fertilizer was founded in 1932 by brothers, Julian and Robert Howard. At its inception, the company was founded to provide a comprehensive collection of quality fertilizer solutions to the growing citrus industry in Florida.
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Fertilizer can be produced for you by a Taffly. In order for this to happen, you must feed a Taffly a fruit. The Taffly will then produce the correct fertilizer for the tree or bush that produced that fruit. For example, feeding an apple to a Taffly will produce red fertilizer.
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