Fish meal organic fertilizer, benefits, how to use and where to buy
Introduction
You all know that the use of chemical fertilizers is deteriorating the quality of our agriculture. So it is necessary to shift from chemical fertilizers to organic fertilizers. Chemical fertilizers not only deteriorate the soil quality but also have hazardous effects on human health. For this, many farmers are using organic products such as Bone meal, Blood meal, Neem cakes, Neem oil, Vermicompost and many more. Here is one organic product named Fish Meal Fertilizer. As the name indicates it is the product prepared from fishes by some processing on it. This is widely used in organic farming for increasing the nutrient content of soil. This is an organic product so there is no doubt that it is natural and nature friendly too. It has no hazardous effects on soil and environment. Thus it helps in doing sustainable agriculture in a more economical and ecological way.
What is Fish Meal Fertilizer?
The name itself says that it is the product made from fishes by processing. Fish meal is a brownish powder made from fishes. In earlier days it was made from fish by drying, but now a days various modern techniques are being implemented to obtain fish meal. It is made by Cooking, Pressing, Drying and Grinding the fish.
It is a very high nutrient containing product. It is used as food for animals such as pigs. But the more specific application of Fish Meal is in Organic farming.
Fish meal provides a good amount of Nitrogen, Phosphorous, potassium along with many Micronutrients to plants.
How Fish Meal Fertilizer is made ?
Fish meal contains a decent amount of protein and lipids with little amount of carbohydrates in it. It is a high energy product. Earlier Fish Meal was prepared by only drying fish in the sun and then pressing it. Nowadays advanced technology is used for making fish meals.
It is made from fishes by following processes
- Cooking:- This is the first step of making Fish Meal. In this step the fish is cooked in a special type of cookers. Special care is taken that fish should not be over cooked nor it is undercooked. This step makes the coagulation of oils present in fish. Then the oils are removed from fish by pressing ii under high pressure.
- Pressing:- This process removes much of the oil and water from fish. Nearly the water content is reduced to less than 50% and the oil content is reduced to nearly four percent. The oil is then used for other valuable purposes. The cooked fish is pressed in special types of machines so that more water is removed to make it dehydrated.
- Drying:- The pressed fish is then dried by tumbling it in a heated drum. Drying can be done by two methods. One is direct drying where the hot air about 500 °C is passed over fish to make it dry. And the second one is an indirect method where direct air is not supplied, but instead the pressed fishes are placed in a chamber containing steam heated docs.
- Grinding:- Now the dried fish is grounded to make it fine powder and to break any clumps in it. Grinding breaks the bones and makes the fine granular power which is then ready to use in the farm.
The processed fish has now become fish meal which you can use in organic farming for sustainable agriculture.
Is Fish Meal fertilizer good for plants?
Fish is prepared from fishes by Cooking, Pressing, Drying and Grinding so it is clear that there are no chemicals in it. Hence is a 100 percent safe product for your farm. It has no hazardous effects on soil and not on the environment. The plants grown by giving fish meal are 💯% safe for human and animal consumption. It is safe for all types of plants in the garden and farm.
Now take a look at uses and benefits of fish meal for your plants :- Fish meal contains a good amount of Nitrogen. It also contains a decent amount of phosphorus and potassium in it. By giving Fish Meal to plants makes luxurious growth of plants by producing leaves and branches. As it also contains phosphorus, it helps to increase the flowering and fruiting of plants.
Fish meal also contains many micronutrients in it such as calcium and iron. This helps in better tolerance to diseases of plants.
Fish meal also contains amino acids in it.
N:P:K Content of Fish Meal Fertilizer
The N:P:K content of Fish Meal is 10:02:02
It means that it contains 10% of Nitrogen, 2%of phosphorus and 2% of potassium. This indicates that Fish Meal contains a decent amount of Nitrogen. This stimulates root growth of plants thus helps in increasing the yield. As Fish Meal contains phosphorus and potassium it helps to increase the quantity and quality of flowers and fruits, and also build strong immunity of plants.
Fish meal can contain about 60 to 70 % crude protein.
How to apply fish Meal in Field or Garden?
You should be very careful while applying the fish meal. Although it is organic and has no chemicals in it, it doesn't have any problems with environment and boil. But it may have bad effects on plant if too much quantity is get applied.
Only apply fish meal after you have done soil testing. This will give you a Idea of application of fish meal.
Although you can apply it throughout the year, the best time for application is winter to spring.
This is slow release fertilizer so it needs about 2 months to get it incorporated into the soil. This also depends upon the environment and soil conditions.
Doses:- You can apply it according to your need as
- Light dose:- 7 lbs per 1000 square feet of farmland.
- Medium dose:- 12 lbs per 1000 square feet of farmland.
- Heavy dose:- 25 lbs per 1000 square feet of farmland.
You can apply 100 gram per square metre of land for vegetables.
Uses of fish Meal fertilizer:- Fish Meal Fertilizer is used for plants to increase nitrogen content.
It helps to increase flowers and fruits of the plants. Fish Meal induces disease resistance in plants as it contains Potassium and Phosphorus in it. Help to maintain quality of fruits thus helps to increase yield in more economical and ecological way.
Disadvantages of Fish Meal
The Fish Meal is purely organic fertilizer so it has no hazardous effects on the environment.
But if you add too much dose to your plants it can lead to some problems in soil or to plants.
As Fish Meal is an animal product and it smells like fish, some farm animals such as rats may get attracted towards it.
Application of Fish Meal at the proper time and in the proper way gives you good results without any ill effects on plants.
Where to buy Fish Meal ?
You can contact local organic fertilizer sellers for buying Fish Meal. Be sure that you are buying from a certified company and seller.
You have to buy high quality Fish Meal, this will give you a quality assurance.
Nowadays fish meal is available in many online stores such as Amazon, Flipkart, IndiaMART. You can buy from them.
It is better to contact the Agricultural University of your area, they can guide you in getting and using Fish Meal.
Always seek professional help in buying. This secures you from any fraud seller.
Pricing of fish meal
You can get sun dried fish meal at the rate of approximately 27 ₹ per kilogram.
Prices may vary according to the company.
It is better to compare price segments of different companies with each other for quality assurance.
Buying a good quality fish meal will give you an advantage.
Conclusion
All plants need good soil conditions and best fertilizer management for better growth and reproduction. Using chemical fertilizers give quick results but it has hazardous effects on the environment and on humans too.So it is better to use organic fertilizers for your plants.
Fish meal fertilizer gives a good amount of Nitrogen and other minerals like phosphorus and potassium that are required by plants. It is also rich in micronutrients. This can give you best results if it is used at the right time and in the proper way. It will be a forward step in making our farming Nature friendly. And this will make agriculture more sustainable in a better ecological and economical manner.
Hope that this article was helpful for you.
Please share your experiences with us and share this article with your friends.
