What it means
کود (kud) is the Persian word for fertilizer or manure, any substance applied to soil to improve its nutrients and help crops grow. The word is native Persian and covers both organic material, such as animal dung (کود حیوانی, kud-e heyvâni), and manufactured chemical fertilizers (کود شیمیایی, kud-e shimi’i). A useful distinction: کمپوست (kompust, compost) refers specifically to decomposed plant material, while کود is the broader category. The verb کود دادن (kud dâdan) means to fertilize.
How to use it
- این خاک به کود نیاز داره. (In khâk be kud ni’âz dâre.) “This soil needs fertilizer.”
- کود گاوی بهترین کود طبیعیه. (Kud-e gâvi behtarin kud-e tabi’iye.) “Cow manure is the best natural fertilizer.”
- کشاورز داشت کود شیمیایی میپاشید. (Keshâvarz dâsht kud-e shimi’i mipâshid.) “The farmer was spreading chemical fertilizer.”
- بدون کود، محصول خوبی نمیگیریم. (Bedun-e kud, mahsul-e khubi nemigirim.) “Without fertilizer, we won’t get a good yield.”
Cultural note
In traditional Iranian farming, کود came almost entirely from livestock. Sheep, goats, and cattle were kept partly for this reason, and their manure was mixed with straw and left to dry before being spread on fields. With the spread of industrial agriculture in Iran from the 1960s onward, chemical fertilizers became common and the term کود شیمیایی entered everyday use. Environmental concerns in recent years have revived interest in کود آلی (kud-e âli, organic fertilizer) among Iranian smallholders.