Use of hydrogen peroxide in agriculture and horticulture is rapidly increasing and rampant and indiscriminate. Hydrogen peroxide use is dangerous and many of the claims on its benefit in agriculture and horticulture through advertising are a myth. Google search gives highly conflicting views on its use. Many of these claims are only a wishful thinking that lures desperate farmers to go for its application. It is depicted as a panacea for all the miseries farmers face about diseases and pests. We get very nervous sometimes when we read these claims.
Should farmers Use Hydrogen Peroxide in the Garden?
The fad is taking the place by storm and in our opinion has little effect on anything except to leave a wake of damage. Most of the claims made on use of hydrogen peroxide and social media are not supported by science. Only a few are true in select cases, but the typical claim is usually stated in an all encompassing way – kills all insects – making the claim untrue. Many suggestions made time to time ignore the potential harm these treatments can do. Hydrogen Peroxide is a deadly enemy of soil organic matter. It oxidizes soil organic matter very fast and burns it leading to poor soil health after its treatment. Many times it can be toxic to plants at some of the suggested doses. It will kill microbes, but it affects both the good and bad microbes. We would use it in special cases where there is some scientific evidence that it works.
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What Science says
We therefore thought of looking at use of hydrogen peroxide in agriculture and horticulture from scientific point and put forth before the farming community.
Hydrogen peroxide is a chemical containing two atoms of hydrogen and two atoms of oxygen. It is a manufactured chemical compound. It is also present in nature in rain water or water vapors in the atmosphere in a very low quantity. It exactly looks like water with bluish tinge but corrosive.
Water on the other hand is two atoms of hydrogen and one atom of oxygen and is natural and a very stable compound universally available.
Hydrogen peroxide is highly unstable and always one of the oxygen atom in it tries to escape from it. Once one atom of oxygen leaves it then it becomes water and this one oxygen is available for other reactions. The use of hydrogen peroxide in several ways is because of this escaping oxygen in it. It is highly reactive oxygen. Because of this hydrogen peroxide is used in many ways for many purposes.
This very active oxygen coming out of hydrogen peroxide immediately react with any organic compound coming in contact with this oxygen and virtually burns it and releases carbon dioxide.
Therefore one of the main uses of hydrogen peroxide is to remove organic matter in such things like contaminated water, clogged water pipes. It is used to clean kitchen sinks, bathroom tiles and pipes, Scour cookware, dishwasher, Get rid of garbage can germs, Deep clean your toilet, Remove stains etc.It is also used to clear your earwax as it burns the wax.
Remember, it has combustible and corrosive qualities. Therefore it must be diluted and handled with care.
All microorganisms contain organic molecules. So hydrogen peroxide can kill microorganisms as it burns organic molecules. It is said that hydrogen peroxide kills yeasts, fungi, bacteria, viruses, and mold spores. Unfortunately both good and bad microorganisms are killed.
Taking clue from this an interesting development took place on the eco-agriculture scene. That is the use of hydrogen peroxide, H2O2, in a variety of ways in agriculture and animal husbandry.
Industry soon became extra active and came out with several products containing hydrogen peroxide with different brand names and label claims whether it is experimentally proved or otherwise. A stage has reached today that Farmers consider it to be a savior thinking that it helps them in fighting against plant pathogens and improve crop yields. On the other hand Industry started projecting themselves as Masaya of farmers saying “The farming industry owes a great depth of gratitude to hydrogen peroxide and its many uses have turned out to be a revelation for farmers that have been fighting against diseases that affect their livestock and their crops. They even projected as saying “The great thing about hydrogen peroxide is that it is all-natural and doesn’t have any chemicals or other additives that may affect the growth of crops or livestock.” But it is an industrially manufactured chemical. With farm-grade hydrogen peroxide label market is flooded with products today.
The real problem starts here.
If it kills the pathogens and controls diseases then it is very good. But it oxidizes organic matter and soil organic matter is lost because of reaction of hydrogen peroxide with any organic matter including pathogens.
Here is how it has been used:
Hydrogen peroxide is generally used as a foliar spray or soil drenching or pushed through drip pipes.
Hydrogen peroxide when it is drenched or sprayed on plants immediately come in contact with organic matter. Immediately oxygen in the hydrogen peroxide comes out of it and burns the organic matter. This leaves carbon dioxide and water.
When we drench the soil all of Hydrogen peroxide comes in contact with soil organic matter. When it is sprayed often less than 0.1% of hydrogen peroxide applied reach the targeted pests and less than 10% remain on the plant. Rest 90% falls down to the soil below. This again reacts with organic matter.
Let us see how much organic matter is lost with hydrogen peroxide use.
In soil testing laboratories all over the world, hydrogen peroxide is used to estimate organic matter by burning the carbon in the organic matter using hydrogen peroxide. Here complete soil is treated with a relatively very high concentration of hydrogen peroxide.(About 15%). In agriculture we use 3-10%. Quantity used is also low. But the continuous use of hydrogen peroxide would create a condition similar to the method used in soil testing laboratory over a long period and organic matter is continuously gets burnt and organic matter is lost from the soil in the form of carbon dioxide and soil health deteriorate. I am trying to show here how much organic matter is lost when we treat soil with hydrogen peroxide
Quantity of carbon in the organic matter of various types of soil destroyed by hydrogen peroxide
%Quantity of organic matter
% Quantity of carbon in organic matter destroyed by hydrogen peroxide
Most farm grade solutions contain 3-10% hydrogen peroxide. But the quantity used per spray or soil drenching is very high. For example 800-900ml of 3%H2O2 in 250 litres per hectare.
We must be cautious here because once farmers starts using it they continues to use and starts indiscriminate application.
Therefore by applying hydrogen peroxide in this proportion continuously a large part of the soil organic matter is decomposed and quickly lost within few days. When hydrogen peroxide comes in contact with soil it is the humified organic matter that gets burnt and the undecomposed organic matter is left behind. Therefore soil stable organic matter is lost leading to deterioration in soil structure and health. There are apparently two phases in the attack of peroxide on soil organic matter. In the first phase, material containing carbon and nitrogen is oxidized, whilst in the second phase the material oxidized consists solely of nitrogen-free carbon compounds. When we use agriculture grade peroxide(3%) the attack on soil organic matter is restricted to the first phase. It means along with organic matter soil nitrogen is also volatilized and lost from the soil. Therefore continuous use of hydrogen peroxide for soil drenching or as foliar spray is disastrous to the soil organic matter and to the health of the soil.
Mycorrhiza the most useful fungi in soil is very badly affected with the treatment of peroxide. Both mycelia and hyphae gets killed and hence peroxide use is very dangerous to the survival of well established mycorrhiza association with the plants particularly perennial crops like fruit and plantation crops. Once mycorrhiza are killed it destroys the soil structure as it also damages glomaline the binding material and the symbiotic help plant used to get in acquiring plant nutrients.
Huge label claims are made without scientific basis of benefits of peroxide in agriculture like
· Fertilizes plants
· Cures root rot caused by waterlogged soil
· Boosts root growth
· Repels insects
· Kills Weeds
· Fights fungal diseases
· Disinfects growing media
· Sanitizes seeds
· Speeds up seed germination
· Treats water
Let us examine some basic points
Aerates the soil.
Hydrogen Peroxide Aerates the Soil.
We know that good aeration of roots is good for plants. Soil compaction or saturated soil moisture reduces aeration. Hydrogen peroxide sellers argue that pouring peroxide onto it will reduce compaction as it releases oxygen and aerates soil and helps growth by opening soil pores just like angioplasty helps flow of blood in heart operations.
But this is just a myth. Peroxide will release oxygen when it comes in contact with organic matter. But a high pressure is required to open soil pores. The oxygen released by hydrogen peroxide is consumed by the organic matter and left with no oxygen to open the pores and no oxygen is left to create a pressure that opens up soil pores. In fact when peroxide reacts with soil it destroys soil organic matter very fast that leads to further compaction in a few minutes. Therefore the argument that it aerates soil is only a myth.
Control of soil borne diseases:
The soil pathogen when comes in contact with the hydrogen peroxide gets killed. But more than that along with this all highly beneficial microorganisms also get killed along with pathogens. Hydrogen peroxide promoters argue that it disinfects the soil. Remember that it is next to impossible to disinfect the soil. It is a surface sanitizer and do not penetrate deep in to the locations where pathogens might be growing and multiplying in the soil. So soil drenching is never effective unless a very huge quantity is applied. If that is done then soil organic matter is lost and creates a barren soil.
Heals diseased and damaged crops.
Peroxide promoters advertise as a savior of farmers as it helps them in fighting against plant pathogens and improve crop yields. Farmers have now started using it in foliar sprays on crops to reduce fungal diseases. Yes it is true that plant pathogens on the leaf surface coming in contact with hydrogen peroxide gets killed and may help in managing disease in a very short run in early stages of growth. It acts only on the surface and do not penetrate inside to act like systemic fungicide. Some farmers get improved crop viability. But have not been successful in effective management of the disease. Unfortunately the 90% of the spray solution that falls to the ground does more damage in destroying soil organic matter than the benefit obtained in management of the diseases. As the soil health deteriorates plants become more susceptible to diseases and pests.
Repells Insects
Peroxide promoters advertise it as an Insect Repellant: How can this be? Peroxide is a odor less chemical but causes irritation when it comes in contact with the insects. This irritation is short lived and is not effective as peroxide soon after coming in contact with plant and sunlight hits it decomposes very fast and becomes water. The fact of the matter is that repelling action is accounted more to the spray pressure than the action of the peroxide. No such benefit is reported in any well conducted research. Hence to use peroxide as an insect repellant is not justified.
Works as a Weed Killer
Hydrogen Peroxide is promoted as a weedicide. A stronger concentration is recommended as a weed killer. Normally it is a 10% concentration that is recommended for weed control. It does damage only those parts of the weed plant that comes in contact with peroxide. But the weeds are not killed. Unfortunately this high concentration peroxide destroys soil organic matter faster than killing the weeds and does a serious damage to the soil health killing beneficial microbs as well along with organic matter. Apart from this use of 10% peroxide as a spray is very risky to the farmers health and that inhaling this higher concentration is harmful to lungs.
Hydrogen peroxide as a fertilizer:
Farmers must know that hydrogen peroxide is not a fertilizer. It does not contain any of the plant nutrients in it. The promoters of peroxide argue that it promotes growth. This is not true. When soil drenching is done some of the nutrients left out after destroying organic matter becomes available to plants and may temporarily boost plant growth.
Hydrogen peroxide helps encourage healthy root growth:
The argument is that the extra oxygen molecule available to the root helps in its growth. But no such benefits are seen in any authenticated literature and there is no scientific evidence to prove this argument.
Current science does not support this practice.
Then Should farmers Use Hydrogen Peroxide in the field?
· Most of the claims made on blogs and social media are not supported by science.
· These claims are usually stated in an all encompassing way – cures all diseases, supply nutrients and act as fertilizers, kills all insects – making the claim untrue.
· Some are true in only select cases
· Popular suggestions also ignore the potential harm these treatments can do.
Peroxide is certainly a good way to sanitize implements and equipments.
Perhaps can be used to treat nursery media like cocopeat.
Therefore we caution farmers that hydeogen peroxide use in farming is dangerous to soil organic matter and overall health of the soil. Should you require any more information you may contact soulofkrishi.com at through phone to +919449816282.
Namaskar.