As the demand for natural and healthy food products is growing, the trend of organic farming in the UAE is witnessing great progress. The UAE is not only paying attention to flashes of brilliance but is also shifting its focus to organic food. While many farmers in the UAE are coming forward to using organic fertilizers and quality input, there are still many farmers who are using chemical fertilizers.
The number of farmers using chemical fertilizers may plummet as they will come to know and understand how chemical fertilizers are harming their field, their production, and the health of others.
Even though many Emirati farmers understand why organic fertilizer is more beneficial, they avoid using it because they are not familiar with all the negative side-effects of using chemical fertilizers and they think that organic fertilizer is more costly. The good thing is that one can now easily buy organic fertilizer online in the UAE. So, availability and affordability are no more issues as farmers can compare prices and check online which ingredients are more promising in a few seconds.
Here are the top five reasons why UAE farmers need to say NO to Chemical Fertilizers even if these fertilizers are cheaper:
Reason #1
Apart from active ingredients like Nitrogen and Phosphates, chemical fertilizers are typically made from nonrenewable sources including fossil fuels and petroleum products. Besides, they also contain inert ingredients that contain potentially dangerous substances like arsenic, lead, cadmium, and mercury. Staying in touch with soil treated with such fertilizers may lead to a number of diseases such as an upset stomach, skin rashes, difficulty in breathing, and change in overall alertness.
Reason #2
Chemical fertilizers kill useful microbes in the soil. Most chemical fertilizers are refined salt. Such a high concentration of salts is extremely toxic to microbial activities that are beneficial for soil as well as crops. With these fertilizers, you are losing the benefits of farmer-friendly microbes.
Reason #3
Chemical fertilizers are scarce in organic matter. As a result, traces of elements keep gradually depleting, which in turn, results in long-term damage to the soil. It may be the case that excessive use of chemical fertilizers for a long time can turn your farmland into barren land. This means you may not be able to grow various or all crops at some point.
Reason #4
Another biggest disadvantage of using chemical fertilizers is that they tend to leach from the soil, especially in the case of over-irrigation. Consequently, the fertilizer is wasted, which often gets washed away into lakes, rivers, ponds and other water bodies where algae production can reach an alarming rate. This also leads to water pollution and water-borne diseases.
Reason #5
With the use of chemical fertilizers, nutrients, especially nitrogen, are readily available to crops for uptake. This is why there is a high risk of burning if the fertilizer is over-applied. Over application of chemical fertilizer not only kills crops but also upsets the entire ecosystem of soil, which is certainly not a good sign.
Note: If you apply chemical fertilizer on your lawn, it will green up quickly but the green color will also fade as quickly as it developed. To sustain a green lawn, people have to use fertilizers frequently. If they cease the application, the lawn will fade to a pale green or yellow as chemicals have caused the soil to die.
So, stop using chemical fertilizers right now in your agriculture field as well as lawn and buy organic fertilizer online to ensure that the soil in your farm stays healthy for crop production rather than degrading. Just be patient while transitioning from chemically dependent farmland to organic farming, you will definitely see great results with this green and sustainable choice after the soil recovers from depletion and side-effects of chemical fertilizers.
Rachael is a Content writer with over 6 years of experience in professional writing.