Ecological and economic problems of fertilizers application in crop production

Abstract

Addressing urgent problems in the agricultural sector requires a comprehensive approach, taking into account the requirements of sustainable development and sustainable land use. The article deals with the key problems of reproduction of soil fertility, which determines the growing shortage of basic nutrients, the progression of soil erosion, acidification of land, and the processes of loss of humus stock. The peculiarities of mineral and organic fertilizer application are analyzed, on the basis of which it is determined that the trends of fertilization of agricultural lands in Ukraine are negative. The statistical data of the number of livestock population that directly affects the volumes of organic fertilizer production is demonstrated. The tendency of the latter and the balance of humus were evaluated, resulting in discovering of direct dependence. The conformity of volumes of nutrient inputs with scientifically substantiated norms is estimated. It is substantiated that the volumes of the introduced mineral fertilizers do not correspond to the needs of intensive agriculture and do not provide the full necessity of plants in nutrition elements. The comparison of the level of mineral fertilizers usage in agriculture of Ukraine and world countries is carried out. It is determined that the domestic fertilizer system lags far behind the foreign ones. The current state of the market of mineral fertilizers in Ukraine, characterized by a deficit of potassium and phosphorus components, high cost, a significant share of imports and insufficient volume of domestic fertilizers, is analyzed. The cost of lost nutrients is calculated, considering chronic shortage of nutrients and mineralization of humus, which exceeds half of product sale income. Key problems of the modern system of fertilizers usage in crop production are consolidated and conceptual directions for their solution are proposed.