There are three crucial ingredients apart of today's fertilizers. They consist of:

In regard to agriculture, these three elements are essential to maintaining plant life and producing high yielding crops. The symbols N-P-K are commonly found on the front of fertilizer packages and are used to communicate to the consumer the concentration of each element.

 

Nitrogen's purpose is to promote foliage while phosphorus is to provide energy to the roots of the crop. Potash is necessary for the overall growth and health of the plant.

 

Potash is a type of potassium carbonate that has served many practical uses for centuries. For instance, potash was, and still is currently used to manufacture:

Potash is available as both a naturally occurring element and via leaching process, a method where ash is used to make a soluble chemical or mineral, in this case what is called lye, through percolation.

 

History of Potash Sources

 

Between the 18th and 19th centuries, sources of mineral potash had yet to be discovered. Potash was produced using leaching of burned trees settlers often cut down to establish land for farming. One of the first discoveries of mineral potash deposits was during the 1860's in Germany which indicated a boundless availability for potash fertilizer. During this time, Germany was a major potash exporter until World War I when all German exports were restricted. Thus, a search for new potash deposits was triggered.

 

In the 1920's the United States took on the role as one of the top countries of potash production. Deposits had been found in California, Nevada, and New Mexico.

 

Potash Today

 

Currently, Ethiopia is one of top potash concentrated countries around the world. It contains some of the not only largest potash ore deposits but also highly concentrated, thus making it a more than ideal site for potash mining and recently one of the main potash mining countries worldwide. While the entire continent has potash deposits, the area most well known for potash reserves is the Danakil Depression in Ethiopia. While the depression itself is approximately 150 metres below sea level, the Danakil Depression, which is sometimes referred to as the Afar Depression or the Afar Triangle, is recognized for its untypically shallow potash reserves making it easily accessible in comparison to other reserves. Most typical potash deposits are a result of evaporated sea basins that have been filled with thousands upon thousands of feet of sediment, over millions of years, making these sites less readily available, and thereby more costly to extract, than reserves found in Ethiopia.

 

The main importers of potash include:

The potash industry is a very vital sector to the survival of many other industries, most significantly any divisions of agriculture. For instance, the farming industry heavily relies on potash fertilizers as demands for food and grain intensive diets, animal feed, and fiber, continue to boom around the world, along with the human population. In fact, the United Nations anticipates that by year 2050 there will be a global population increase by 40 percent, correspondingly increasing these needs and demands. Meanwhile, it has also been recorded that arable land, ideal for crop production, is declining worldwide at average rate of -1 percent, making potash production and potash fertilizers all the more necessary currently, and for the future.