BIOL 488: The Effects of Chemical Fertilizer vs. Biofertilizer on the Environment

Agriculture accounts for the majority of environmental pollution. 16% of that is from chemical fertilizer and 18% comes from burning biomass. Chemical fertilizers primarily use nitrogen and phosphorus synthetic fertilizer in a mineral form. This has caused many environmental problems from poor nutrient levels because the fertilizer kills microorganisms in the soil while lowering the PH. This fertilizer is harsh on the plants if it is over-applied leading to “burnt” plants and loss of yield. Much of this fertilizer ends up in watersheds before it can dissolve, leading to nutrient loading in the water system leading from uncontrollable algal growth and water quality problems. Biofertilizers can help these problems faced by farmers because of the ease of nutrient take up in the soil. Most of the biofertilizers do not harm the soil or change the PH. They are also much cheaper than synthetic fertilizers. The problem is that you need multiple biofertilizers to get the same effects as just a few chemical fertilizers. This biofertilizer plan should be compared to the chemical fertilizer by the nutrient level and PH of the soil before and after harvest while comparing the crop yields. My hypothesis is that the biofertilizer will increase the soil health while increasing crop yield.