2023-10-11 On October 13, the world celebrates WORLD FERTILIZER DAY

Every October 13, World Fertilizer Day is celebrated around the world, and the National Association of Fertilizer Manufacturers (ANFFE), made up of the main Spanish fertilizer producers and European companies with representation in our country, joins said commemoration.

Mineral fertilizers are products that provide essential nutrients for plants, mainly nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, and that are obtained from raw materials from nature itself:

- Nitrogen comes from the atmosphere and constitutes approximately 78 percent of the air we breathe, being a fundamental element of proteins. This nutrient, which is not found in mineral form, is fixed from the atmosphere through a process similar to that carried out by legumes, obtaining nitrogen fertilizers from it.

- Phosphorus is a fossil mineral contained in soils and is obtained from phosphate rock mines. This rock has very low solubility, which is why it is transformed into phosphate fertilizers that can be assimilated by plants, which have a very high solubility. Phosphorus is an element that is present in all organisms.

- Potassium is also an essential component in living beings and plays a fundamental role in the growth of plants. It is found in areas that were occupied by seas in the past and is obtained from potash mines. In the process of manufacturing potassium fertilizers, the salts present in nature are extracted, ground and purified, also with the aim of facilitating their assimilation by crops.

That is, the fertilizer industry transforms these nutrients so that they can be used by crops. These nutrients are exactly the same as those contained in organic fertilizers, but in forms that can be assimilated by plants, which would also happen naturally, but over a longer period of time. The origin of the nutrients that will allow the plant to produce quality food is absolutely irrelevant, with plants always taking nutrients in inorganic form, regardless of their primary origin.

It is estimated that the essential plant nutrients provided by mineral fertilizers produce 50 percent of the food consumed worldwide today.



Link to the IFA website where World Fertilizer Day is celebrated: https://www.fertilizer.org/initiatives/global-fertilizer-day/