I. Introduction
One of the trends in the food industry nowadays is organic food. Organic food, as advertised by several people, is “chemical-free”. The use of the phrase “chemical-free” on products is only a marketing strategy since people nowadays occasionally perceive chemicals as a poison or something that has a harmful effect on one’s body. The label causes the public believe that their product is safe and/or healthy. Contrary to what most people believe in, organic products are not actually chemical-free because from planting to harvesting, chemicals and reactions are present whether it is naturally occurring or caused by different uncontrollable factors such as the following: weather, natural calamities, insects and animals.
The word
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Whether it is organic farming or conventional farming, minerals and nutrients required to a plant’s normal growth should always be present in the soil. Soil organisms are always present in the soil. One example of a chemical reaction in the soil of an organic farm or a conventional farm is mineralization. Mineralization is the breakdown of chemical components in the soil so that plants easily absorb them. This is done to ensure that the soil where the plant is to planted in have complete chemical components to ensure a normal growth and life cycle. Mineralization of carbon and nitrogen in soil are caused by soil organisms that eat organic matter (Meister, …show more content…
Fertilizers are only used if the seed is to be planted on a soil that is nutrient deficient. According to Cosper (1951), the three main plant foods, namely nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus, are always present in commercial fertilizers and are sometimes called balanced fertilizers.
One difference in organic and conventional farming is the use of humus. Humus is an organic substance that has decomposing vegetables and manure. It provides extra nutrients for the plant’s growth and life cycle. It can also increase the soil’s capability to retain water. Organic farms use humus since it is composed of decomposing leaves, another chemical reaction. Humus, which is essential to the soil, balances out the presence of carbon and nitrogen ratio of the soil. It can also retain, remove or lower concentrations of pollutants present in the soil (Royal Society of Chemistry,