Model Academic essay in response to a question seen 19 May 2012 in the UK

Various fertilizers are used nowadays for food production.  This is a practice that has more drawbacks than benefits.  Do you agree or disagree?

Since the advent of fertilizers and other crop producing chemicals, farming output has increased exponentially.  Yet there are many sound scientific findings that indicate the damage such crop additives cause to human health.  Despite this, it is argued that fertilizers, when used in appropriate doses, pose more benefits than drawbacks.  This will be shown by analyzing the positive effects fertilizers have on crop production and farmland requirements.

For one, fertilizers induce larger harvests, and this can have substantial effects on countries in need of additional sustenance.  For example, great famines that have occurred due to natural causes, such as the Irish potato famine, could have been alleviated or even averted were the technology of crop fertilization available to farmers at that time.  As history has shown, chemical additives can greatly increase a crop’s robustness to disease and poor weather conditions.  Thus, it is for this reason that fertilizer’s role in crop production, particularly in areas unwelcoming to cultivation, should be supported.

In addition to this, fertilizer can help reduce the amount of land needed to produce foodstuffs.  This is especially helpful to population dense countries like Indonesia.  Chemical additives help farmers produce more food on smaller plots of land, which encourages the reservation of space and stimulation of economies.  As this discussion shows, responsible fertilizer use is a practice that has many positive points.

As this essay has illustrated, the chemical boosting of crop harvests should not be a practice quickly dismissed without first looking at the benefits it brings to people.  It is hoped fertilizers continue to be used in safe amounts.

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