No matter the quality of the seeds, the richness of the soil plays an important role to actualize good yield (or the full potential of the seeds). Thus, improving the soil is an important component to achieve high crop productivity. This is because the crop only utilises what is available and accessible in the soil. So, crop productivity is largely dependent on the richness of the soil. Therefore, it is expedient to ensure that farmers are well knowledgeable and motivated to consciously improve the soil fertility with the appropriate nutrients needed and at the right time.
Over the years, the usage of fertilizer(both organic and inorganic sources) to supply the needed nutrients to the soil has been low especially in the developing countries, and has been attributed to have influenced low crop yield being recorded in the agricultural sector, and consequently food insecurity. Years after the Abuja declaration, there commended 50kg nutrients per hectare is yet to be achieved by majority of farmers (on the average) in developing countries, although significant progress has been made, with new initiatives and programmes that have led to a new reality -- the fertilizer value chain is gaining more traction and attention by the relevant stakeholders. As we focus on increasing usage of fertilizer in the sector to improve productivity, we also need to address the rising issue of environmental pollution due to excess usage per application. This is of great concern in areas where the cation exchange capacity (CEC) of the soil is low and can not retain nutrients of the increased volume per application, leading to pollution of the environment. This is a public health concern and should be addressed holistically.
It is important that stakeholders in the agricultural sector in every country develop soil maps through comprehensive soil tests for each region to better understand the physical and chemical properties of their soil in order to develop the best fertilizer blends per region and application regiments suitable to their soil properties. Also, there is a need to improve the technical knowledge of the farmers especially on micro dosing, which is in response to increased usage of fertilizer to avoid leaching or runoff that could have a negative impact on us. Furthermore, there is a need to encourage the usage of organic fertilizer as a complement to inorganic fertilizer in order to improve microbial activities in the soil. Our soil is a living thing and we need to feed them appropriately to be healthy and at the same time, preserving the environment where we all live as we sustain our food production. Therefore, as we live to sustain food production, we also need to sustain life and the environment where we live.
