This indicator is a pressure indicator for eutrophication factors. The part of fertilizer used in agriculture that is not taken up by plants is one of the main causes of eutrophication of the environment.

The amount of chemical fertilizers as pure plant nutrients (N, P2O5, K2O) consumed in Turkey at the end of 2020 increased by 30.18% compared to 2019 and reached 3,210,698 tons. The total agricultural cultivated area was 19,572,000 hectares. At the end of 2020, the consumption of chemical fertilizers as a pure plant nutrient per hectare of agricultural land in Turkey was about 164 kg. Excessive consumption of fertilizers is not in question in dry agricultural areas, but in some local and irrigated areas ^[109].

According to FAO 2018 data, fertilizer use based on plant nutrients per hectare of arable land averaged 160 kg/ha in European Union countries, 135 kg/ha in the world, and 110 kg/ha in Turkey ^[110].

The goal of fertilizer use is to use fertilizer at the right time, in the appropriate manner, and in the right amount based on soil analysis, to avoid practices that cause water pollution and reduce soil fertility, to promote organic farming, and to practice sustainable agriculture. To increase the efficiency of fertilizer use, it is important to expand the use of organic and organomineral fertilizers in addition to chemical fertilizers ^[111].

GRAPH 145- TOTAL CHEMICAL FERTILIZER CONSUMPTION BASED ON PLANT NUTRIENT MATERIAL BY YEAR

Source: Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry,2021