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Nutrients and Fertilizer
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Nutrients and Fertilizer

Introduction to Fertilizers

In this section, the speaker introduces the importance of fertilizers and how they are used in agriculture.

The Importance of Fertilizers

  • Proteins are essential for growth and development.
  • Amino acids, which make up proteins, contain about 16% nitrogen.
  • Humans cannot synthesize amino acids without nitrogen.
  • Plants obtain nitrogen from soil to produce amino acids and proteins.

Traditional Agriculture Methods

  • Traditional agriculture methods involve recycling crop residues, manure or human waste to obtain nitrogen for plants.
  • Leguminous crops can also be grown as they have bacteria in their root system that can convert atmospheric nitrogen into ammonia.

Limitations of Traditional Agriculture Methods

  • Recycling crop residues or manure is limited by the amount available.
  • Leguminous crops are low yielding and not commonly consumed by humans.

Inorganic Fertilizers

  • Inorganic fertilizers were developed at the end of the 19th century to provide a solution for obtaining nitrogen from sources other than traditional agriculture methods.
  • Potassium and phosphates can be obtained easily but there was no way to obtain nitrogen until Fritz Haber succeeded in breaking down atmospheric nitrogen into ammonia in 1909.

The Importance of Fertilizers

In this section, the speaker discusses the importance of fertilizers in agriculture and how they have contributed to the Green Revolution.

Fertilizers and the Green Revolution

  • Nitrogen from air can be combined with hydrogen to make ammonia which is used to make fertilizers.
  • Chemical fertilizers provided a fuel for fueling the Green Revolution as they allowed crops to yield much more.
  • Without large application of fertilizer, there would be no green revolution, no increase in yields and no possibility to have as many billions of people as we have now.

Overall, this section highlights how fertilizers have played a crucial role in increasing crop yields and feeding a growing population.

Video description

Vaclav Smil is a distinguished professor at the University of Manitoba and the author of many books. He is considered an expert on the science behind growing enough food to feed our increasing population and keep our economy strong. Professor Smil talks about our dependency on plants for nutrients, where nutrients come from, their history and role today.