A QUANTITATIVE APPROACH TO PREDICT ... - SuSanA

the fruit of the plants. The same problem of depletion affects the supply of potassium
because only few countries have enough potash rocks. K is responsible for high yield in
plants as it is central to photosynthesis processes and it helps the plant to fight diseases.
Although there is significant availability of N because it is derived from natural gas, all
the three components should be available to produce the NPK fertiliser; unless they are
going to be used separately. N constitutes the protein part of the plant and it helps the
plants to get its colour, growth and yield. 176 These problems of higher prices and
scarcity of materials make the chemical fertiliser become expensive for the poor
countries to afford. When ecosan is promoted on a larger scale, then the high prices can
be minimised and sustainability be assured. What actually differentiate the chemical
fertiliser from the ecosan fertiliser are the numerous chemical processes that the
chemical fertiliser passes through.
To produce the NPK fertiliser for example, N should be processed out of ammonia.
Ammonia is produced through chemical processes at the industrial level by combining
N in the air with hydrogen in natural gas at high temperature and pressure. This is done
with the addition of catalyst. This process of producing ammonia is called Haber-Bosch
process due to the higher temperature and pressure used. In producing P, phosphate
rocks are digested with strong acid. It is then combined with ammonia to produce Diammonium
phosphate of Mono-ammonium phosphate through a process called
ammonization. To get K, it should be mined from salt deposit and countries noted to
have larger deposits of potash are Canada and Russia. When these nutrients are
available, then can they be combined to produce the NPK chemical fertiliser. 177 With the
understanding of the how the research area is and how the different types of fertilizers
are prepared, the next chapter focus on the methods and tools used in the data collection
and processing in this study.
176 Arno, Rosemarin, et al, 2008, pp.13-18
177 Yara fertilizer industry handbook, 2009, p.11
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