Phosphatic Fertilizers And Agriculture In Pakistan

Pakistan’s economy is based on agriculture but still, Pakistan is facing a shortage of grains in the country, there is a big gap between supply and demand. Wheat is an important cereal crop worldwide as well as in Pakistan. In Pakistan, the average yield potential is much less than growing countries of the world. A deficit of wheat supply is very often in the country and Government is imposed to import wheat by allocating an enormous amount of foreign exchange. To fulfill the demand it is important to maximize the cultivation of food grains. There are different reasons of low wheat production in our country as delay in wheat sowing due to a late vocation of rice field and low availability of phosphorus (P) due to its fixation in our soils. 

Application of Fertilizers

The increase in grain yield is related to an increased application of fertilizer or more truly the increased uptake of nutrients. Soil nutrient statistics important for maintaining high quality and sustainable crop production. It is very important to maintain soil nutrients at a sufficient level, to maintain optimum plant growth. Application of fertilizers is optional because their costs are too high for farmer, so high use of these fertilizers is not profitable. Almost all the soils in Pakistan have poor fertility status due to lack of organic matter and arid climate as soils developed under severe climate are poor in organic matter and nutrients like nitrogen, phosphorus and sulfur. Phosphorus (P) is one of the most important growth-limiting nutrients. Phosphorus is a naturally occurring element that can be found in the earth’s crust and all living organisms. In plants, it plays a vital role in many physiological processes such as the promotion of early heading and uniform maturity, a growth of early root and seedling, It also supports seed formation, increases seed quality and water-use efficiency. Phosphorus is also important during major biochemical processes like respiration, cell division, photosynthesis, storage and transfer of energy.

 

Conditions of Pakistani Soils

Most Pakistani soils are alkaline having pH > 7.0 as well as calcareous (CaCO3 > 3.0%) in nature. Phosphorus fixation is a severe problem in alkaline and calcareous soils. When Phosphatic fertilizers are applied to the soil, < 1% of it becomes part of soil solution for uptake by plants. While remaining goes to exchange sites and it is either adsorbed or precipitated. The average recovery of phosphorus fertilizer by crops is very low and varies from 15-20% on single crop basis. It is estimated that phosphorus recovery in alkaline calcareous soil is 0.02 to 0.5%. This is because of the high phosphorus fixation property of our soils. It is estimated that 80-90% of Pakistani soils fall in the range between low to medium in phosphorus concentration and high in calcareous. According to a study, Punjab province is losing phosphorus at a rate of 0.016 ppm per year. This may be attributed to reversion of applied phosphates to less available forms such as coat-calcium phosphates, carbonate apatite, hydroxide apatite and flour apatite by reacting with clay and calcium compounds. Applying good source of fertilizers may resolve this problem.

By Shoaib Aslam

Water Pollution | Source and Causes of Water Pollution

Water pollution is basically any physical, chemical or biological change in water quality which disturbs the living organisms quite badly. Water pollution makes a water resource incongruous for many of its beneficial uses. From beneficial uses of water resources we mean irrigation, public water supply, industrial production and recreation etc. This pollution could be a result of weathering conditions and soil erosion but mainly it is related to human activities, directly or indirectly. 

Sources of water pollution:

Domestic waste: 

One of the biggest sources of water pollution is the domestic waste and sewage. Pathogens present in raw sewage contaminate water and make it oily and brownish with a foul odor. Organic waste from domestic sewage gives rise to sludge that makes water unsuitable for using in recreation and industrial use. Detergents present in domestic sewage accumulate in water as they degrade very slowly. Phosphates present in detergents improve growth of algal blooms in water making it unfit for human and animal use. 

Fertilizers: 

Fertilizers and other pollutants present on surface of land absorb in soil due to rains and reach the water reservoirs and water courses. This addition of fertilizers and pollutants into water contaminates water by giving rise to eutrophication (upgrading of an ecosystem with chemical nutrients).

Industrial waste: 

Toxic chemicals present in industrial waste are Cadmium, lead, mercury. Moreover, many liquid effluents like acids, bases and poisonous compounds are also present in industrial waste. All these solid and liquid toxic substances pass into water bodies making it contaminated.

Water pollution effects:

Deadly diseases: 

Effects of water pollution could be catastrophic depending upon the nature of chemicals and pollutants present in it. Many water bodies near urban areas are contaminated due to domestic and industrial garbage dumped into it. Water is becoming contaminated and causing many health issues like Hepatitis A, Malaria, Cholera, dysentery, diarrhea and many other deadly diseases.

Effects on aquatic habitat:

Many human activities like industrial processes are causing increase in environmental temperature means thermal pollution. These processes may not contaminate the water directly but increase the water temperature which affects the aquatic habitat.

Ocean pollution:

Garbage, oil, petroleum and other toxic chemicals from ship generated discharges are becoming a source of ocean pollution. Ocean pollution is adversely affecting the sea life. Moreover, detergents used to clean water are also dangerous for sea animals.

How to control?

“Solution to pollution is dilution.”

Water pollution can be controlled by taking this principle into consideration. Moreover, there are various methods through which we can control water pollution. By using very specific and less stable chemicals in manufacturing process of insecticides could be useful in controlling water pollution caused by insecticides. There are many chemical treatments that could convert the sewage chemicals to into harmless substances. Thermal pollution of water could be avoided through cooling processes. There should be strict laws to treat the domestic and industrial waste before discharging into rivers or seas.  

Environmental laws & importance

Environmental laws are the combination of state, federal and international agreements relating to the environmental issues and conserving natural resources. For example, these issues include pollution of soil, water, air; depletion of coal, oil and clean water; and the global warming. 

Main objective:

As with advancement in all fields of life, people are becoming aware of all environmental issues that are growing wildly. The main objective of these environmental laws is to raise awareness about environment among those who are concerned and to join them together to make a difference. Because it’s our global issue and no individuals could tackle the situation.

Practicing environmental laws:

Environmental issues are becoming a wildfire. To control the situation, all we can do is to practice the environmental laws. Practice of these environmental laws is a very broad field and just a group of people couldn’t bring a change. Implementation of these laws needs attention at local, federal and international level.

 

Environmental laws and Climate Change:

All of us are well aware of the current issue of climate change. It is affecting the planet to a great extent. Severe weather conditions are killing human beings, animals and plants. Making environmental laws for climate change is under consideration. Efforts are made to make a policy to moderate the effects of climate change and to adapt to these changes.   

Water and air pollution:

It’s a point of rethinking that environmental issues are increasing day by day and still we are not controlling them. Air and water pollution are one of the greatest threats to the planet. Pollutants such as fertilizers and pesticides added in runoffs from agriculture, sewage's and suburban areas are added with the drinking water. Laws and policies need to be created and upgraded to cope with the situation.

Careers:

As environment field is very vast and broad, there are also a number of career opportunities are present in a variety of areas of environment. There are also a number of nonprofit organizations that are working hard in this field to implement environmental laws.

Global Warming: “Burning” Debate of This Decade

Global warming is the phenomenon which dictates that Earth’s climate is increasing every day. Researchers are of the opinion that Earth’s temperature has risen about 1.5°F over the past century and is expected to rise some more in the next one hundred years. These small changes over a period of time might seem insignificant but this consistent change in climate can bring disastrous changes to our environment. Climate change brings flood, drought and typhoons, such extreme weather like freezing cold weather or sudden heat waves. Global warming does not only effects land but also glaciers and oceans.
 

Responsibility of Humans:

Over centuries and especially after industrial revolution, human activities and progress has released large amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere which has cause gradual increase in Earth’s temperature. Greenhouse gases are majorly responsible for causing temperature increase. They blanket our earth and do not allow radiation to leave this planet thus increasing its temperature. Oceans become warmer and more acidic for marine life and glaciers start to melt which results in rising sea levels. These changes will become challenging for our society, our living conditions and for our society. The choices we make today about our life style are going to effect the generations in the coming years.

How Climate Change affects US:

Human race has adapted to consistent climate change ever since the last ice age. Global warming has caused an increase in the frost free season and plantation period. This means we can plan more plantations of crops for one season. There is a rapid growth in energy demand for longer warmer period; this also adds to greenhouse effect.it also increases the fluctuations in energy supply and its prices. Flooding, storms and hurricane destroys the infrastructure of any country and similar is the case when it comes to extreme weathers. Roads, bridges and dams have been destroyed by strong forces of nature and have caused many road accidents dues to landslides and broken roads. Hotter weather will call for more use of water; Earth has finite number of water reservoirs and this climate change might cause drought in future.