Which minerals help to improve soil fertility and which mineral do farmers use to improve the crop yields on their farms?
Livestock manures and natural mined materials like rock phosphate, lime, gypsum and K-management are some of my top choices. If the pH is low, lime it. Choose the correct type of lime, either high calcium or dolomite, depending on your soils, and don't overdo it.Calcium and magnesium provide for the long-range goals in terms of soil fertility needed to reach the best in regard to yield and quality. Without the proper amount of both of these needed nutrients the soil's true potential will never be met.
Maintain soil fertility for sufficient crop yields, soil amendments are typically required. Early humans soon learned to amend their fields with animal manure, charcoal, ash, and lime to improve soil fertility. Soil fertility can be further improved by incorporating cover crops that add organic matter to the soil, which leads to improved soil structure and promotes a healthy, fertile soil; by using green manure or growing legumes to fix nitrogen from the air through the process of biological nitrogen fixation. Soil fertility can also be improved by the addition of manures and fertilizers. Manures are natural organic compounds, such as the cow dung. Fertilizers are chemicals that are rich in a particular nutrient required for soil fertility. A fertile soil will contain all the major nutrients for basic plant nutrition as well as other nutrients needed in smaller quantities. Earthworms are farmers' friends because they improve the quality of the soil like water holding capacity, moisture, and nutrient content by burrowing into the soil. The soil becomes loose and porous. Also, the worm castings improve the distribution of organic matter in the soil. Fertilizer use strategy of farmers' differs with soil types and crops. They prefer to apply organic fertilizers on fertile soils because an important food security crops such as enset and root and tubers are growing; proximity of the soil type to the source and better crop yield.
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