agrominerals

thumb|Look of tomato plants when missing essential nutrients they need Agrominerals (also known as stone bread or petrol fertilizer) are minerals of importance to agriculture and horticulture industries for they can provide essential plant nutrients. Some agrominerals occur naturally or can be processed to be used as alternative fertilizers or soil amendments. The term agromineral was created in the 19th century and is now one of the leading research topics for sustainable agriculture. These geomaterials are used to replenish the nutrients and amend soils. Agrominerals started with small uses most often seen in hobbyist gardening but are moving to a much larger scale such as commercial farming operations that take up 100's acres of land. In this transition the focus changed to be more on ground nutrients, mainly on the three major plant nutrients nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and potassium (K). Two of the three elements are only being harvested from a geomaterial called potash. Alternative sources are being researched, due to potash finite supply and cost.

The process of using agrominerals starts with crushing rocks into a "rock powder," than using the powder to replenish soil nutrients. The process of replenishing mineral levels in a soil is called soil remineralization. While studying alternative ways to replenish ground nutrients, it has been found that agrominerals can also help mitigate other issues such climate change, water preservation and soil management.