Organic fertilizer, as a crucial support for ecological agriculture, requires a production process involving multiple stages, including raw material collection, fermentation and maturation, and processing and shaping. The complexity of this process means that each stage presents numerous difficulties, hindering production efficiency and product quality.
Raw material supply and pretreatment are the primary difficulties. Organic fertilizer raw materials are diverse, including livestock and poultry manure, crop straw, and kitchen waste. However, these materials are scattered and have complex compositions, resulting in high collection costs and significant transportation losses. Furthermore, different raw materials have varying moisture content and carbon-to-nitrogen ratios, and improper pretreatment directly affects the subsequent fermentation process. For example, livestock and poultry manure contains a large number of pathogenic bacteria and heavy metals, requiring strict sterilization; straw fibers are coarse and hard, requiring crushing and decomposition, increasing equipment and labor costs.
Controlling the fermentation and maturation process is a core challenge. The fermentation process requires precise control of parameters such as temperature, humidity, and oxygen content. Excessively high temperatures can destroy nutrients, while excessively low temperatures result in incomplete maturation. Traditional fermentation methods have long cycles and easily produce malodorous gases that pollute the environment, while industrial fermentation requires highly advanced technology and equipment, which is difficult for small and medium-sized enterprises to afford. In addition, the fermentation process is prone to the growth of miscellaneous bacteria, leading to nutrient loss or decreased product quality.
Quality control and standardized production face challenges. Currently, the organic fertilizer industry lacks unified quality standards, and the production of organic fertilizers often results in inconsistent nutrient content and organic matter ratios due to differences between companies.Detecting pollutants such as heavy metals and pathogenic bacteria in the organic fertilizer making process is difficult and costly. Some companies omit detection steps to reduce costs, leading to substandard products entering the market. Simultaneously, the processing and shaping stage is prone to problems such as uneven particle size and excessive moisture content, affecting product storage and application effectiveness.
Market awareness and promotion difficulties should also not be overlooked. Some farmers lack sufficient understanding of the advantages of organic fertilizers and still prefer fast-acting chemical fertilizers; organic fertilizers have a higher unit price and slower effects, requiring improved market acceptance. Furthermore, organic fertilizer products are highly homogenized, and companies lack core competitiveness, further exacerbating the difficulty of market promotion.
Overcoming these challenges requires strengthening technological innovation, improving industry standards, and enhancing market guidance to make the organic fertilizer production process more standardized and efficient, and to promote the high-quality development of the organic fertilizer industry.
