Gypsum is one form of inorganic manure.
Manures enrich the soil and replenish nutrients used by crops. Although the word "manure" most often refers to animal waste, it also refers to any kind of fertilizer, including inorganic fertilizers. Inorganic manures are compounds that don't derive from plants or animals that provide the same compounds as of organic fertilizers. Inorganic manures supply nutrients to the soil needed for plant growth.
Chemicals
Chemists create substances in the lab that mimic naturally occurring substances. For instance, you can purchase both natural urea and urea made in the laboratory. Both act the same way in the soil, but the chemical substance may provide more consistent levels of nutrients. Purchase chemical fertilizers that contain nitrogen, iron, phosphate and many other important nutrients for plant growth. Buy chemical fertilizers as liquids, powders or pellets.
Minerals
Rock phosphate, gypsum and sulfur are all naturally occurring nonorganic compounds. They're rocks and minerals that provide important nutrients such as phosphorous, lime and sulfur to the soil. Producers mine these inorganic manures from the earth. Because they're not man-made, these inorganic compounds are used in organic farming.
Advantages
Inorganic manures are often less expensive than organic compounds. They may offer more concentrated nutrients that quickly dissolve into the soil. They're available in a variety of forms, so the farm may choose the form that works. Inorganic manure goes to work enriching the soil right away, since it doesn't need time to decay in order to make the nutrients available.
Disadvantages
Using too much of any fertilizer, organic or inorganic, can lead to runoff that contaminates waterways. Because the nutrients in most organic manures are bound up in the manure and release slowly over time, runoff is less of a problem with organic fertilizers than it is with inorganic fertilizers. Because organic manures decompose in time, the nutrients these fertilizers provide are available longer than most inorganic manures.
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