Destruction of soil health and risk of food contamination by application of chemical fertilizer

Abstract

Chemical fertilizers are used to increase crop quantity and quality and to influence the taste of many food crops. On the other hand, there are increasing environmental concerns and food-related illnesses connected to the use of these chemicals in order to boost food production and meet up with existing food demand. The problems have been that of inappropriate application and misuse of chemical fertilizers at different stages in farm management. The major concern of fertilizer contamination to food is that of nitrate pollution leading to nitrate poisoning common to both man and livestock. The tendency for food contamination is high for short-cycle crops like vegetables and maize, root crops like carrots and tubers like yams and cassava. This depends largely on the type of fertilizer application, the quantity and rate of application. Many studies have revealed that above 5% of nitrogen nutrient from fertilizer application is lost to water during the cropping season. Two-thirds of it is due to inappropriate application practices. Most farmers carry out mix application of agrochemicals. This is rampant with liquid chemical application on food crops, where liquid pesticides are often mixed with either powder or liquid chemical fertilizers during application or vice versa. This makes identification and characterization of the risks of inorganic fertilizers on soils and food crops a difficult task and needs more research and investigations.