Amendments: Fertilizer, Residue, and Manure
Impacts
Soil organic amendments such as crop residues and manure put organic carbon directly onto the soil. They also provide other nutrients like nitrogen and phosphorus.
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Organic amendments are competitive with inorganic fertilizers (NPK) when correctly applied. According to many studies in a variety of climates and on many different soil types, organic amendments can meet or surpass the crop yields from fields that received inorganic fertilizer.
How does it work?
Organic amendments directly feed plants and the soil biological community. ​
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Fungi, worms, bugs, and microbes in the soil feed on organic material and then create waste products that plants can use. ​
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When plants mass increases due to the additional nutrients from organic amendments, they produce more crop residue, which is the unharvestable material from crops. This can then be applied to the field to help feed the next season's crops.
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