![]() ![]() Fritz Haber Advances in chemical fertilizers Beginning in 1913, synthetic fertilizers were commercially produced and dramatically improved crop yields and production. This industrial process allowed for the expansion of both agriculturul production and human population during the 20th century. ![]() Carl Bosch, chemist at BASF (Badische Anilin- & Soda-Fabrik) commercialized the process by establishing the first, state-of-the-art, industrial-level production in 1913. The synthesis takes place on iron catalyst at high pressure and temperature. The solution came in 1908 from Germany, where Fritz Haber discovered the principles of ammonia synthesis, utilizing all physical and chemical resources available at that time. Therefore, an urgent task was the production of nitrogen compounds utilizing nitrogen from the air. Some scientists predicteded worldwide starvation. The nitrogen content of agricultural soil had been exhausted, and the question of industrial support for nitrogen fertilizers remained unsolved. The nitrogen cycle Root nodules The Haber-Bosh process At the end of the nineteenth century, the limited food supply of the world’s expanding population raised growing concerns. ![]() The achievability of balanced soil chemistry was also advanced by the 1956 development of the Kjeldahl method to automatically analyze the amount of existing nitrogen present in organic compounds. Many commercial processes have been developed to produce nitrogen fertilizers, including the best known Haber-Bosch method for ammonia synthesis. Availiable soil nitrogen, especially nitrates, is normally deficient for intensive crop production. Fertilizers and Soil Nutrients Nitrogenfixation Nitrogen fixation is an essential natural process in which microorganisms convert the otherwise less-reactive nitrogen into inorganic nitrogen compounds, which in turn first enter the nutritional chain as organic nitrogen compounds such as proteins in plants. TECHNOLOGY MILESTONES IN FOOD AND AGRICULTURE IV.1. ![]()
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