High prices for mineral fertilizers are forcing agricultural producers to look for alternatives. The market has seen a noticeable increase in demand for organic waste, but there are a number of problems: such fertilizers can clog the soil, and their transportation is associated with administrative difficulties.
By September 2021, the average cost of nitrate increased by 71%, urea - by 91%, ammophos - by 70%. At SPIMEX (St. Petersburg International Commodity and Raw Materials Exchange) on November 12, premium grade ammophos was traded at 57 thousand rubles. per ton, grade B saltpeter - 25 thousand rubles each. per ton. The regions notified the Ministry of Agriculture of their readiness to purchase 2022 million tons of mineral fertilizers in 4,2, which is 1 million tons less than the previously planned volume. At the same time, 30-40 tons of organic fertilizers required per 1 hectare cost in the range of 30-65 thousand rubles. depending on the type and terms of delivery.
Sergei Lukin, director of the All-Russian Research Institute of Organic Fertilizers and Peat, says organic fertilizers have a positive effect on soil properties. Tatyana Gubina, head of the staff of the Union of Potato and Vegetable Market Participants, emphasizes that with the parallel use of mineral and organic fertilizers, the yield can be higher than only with chemical feeding. But there are other opinions: a number of experts believe that the use of manure and poultry droppings as fertilizers threatens with an overdose of active ingredients and soil contamination. There are already technologies in the world by which it is possible to make a high-quality product without impurities from organic fertilizers, but in Russia this business is underdeveloped.
Poultry and livestock enterprises are often far enough away from plant growing ones, and for the transportation of organic fertilizers a special permit is required (as for substances of the third - moderate - hazard class). Now the sphere of handling animal waste is regulated by a dozen regulations of various departments, in this case a separate sectoral law is required.
In 2020, the volume of organic fertilizers application increased by 0,6%, to 70,6 thousand tons year-on-year. The organic fertilizers market in Russia has “significant potential for development”, and an additional impetus can be given to it by the exclusion of manure and dung from the list of waste when used as raw materials for fertilizers.