COATED UREA :: THE NEW AGE FERTILIZER

 COATED  UREA - THE NEW  AGE  FERTILIER  

Rising  world population  is expected to increase the demand for nitrogen fertilizers to improve crop yield to be able to feed the rising population and ensure food security, with the current challenges nutrient use efficiency of urea and its pressing environmental concerns, controlled release fertilizers (CRFs) can become a solution to overcome all these challenges by controlling the rate of release of fertilizer by providing a coating around it . 

However, there are certain obstacles in the widespread application of CRFs in agriculture. This article aims to provide a better overview of the development regarding CRFs and different raw materials utilized to form CRF  and also to provide and insight for future works in the field of agriculture.

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     INTRODUCTION  -- 

• Nitrogen is the most crucial and essential plant nutrient, and to supply this essential nutrient urea has been used since ages making it the most commonly used nitrogen-based fertilizer, it also has a high nitrogen content (46%) and low cost.
• However, it is prone to loss due to poor absorbance by plants which leads to economic decline and severe environmental concerns such as NITRATE leaching, groundwater contamination, soil acidification, heavy metal contamination and eutrophication of freshwater bodies.
• Urea was reported to have nutrient utilization efficiency of only about 30%, where major losses occur through volatilization, some portion react with organic compound in the soil and rest is lost through leaching into water system.
• With these challenges and environmental concerns CRFs have become solution in this day and age by formulating them to release nutrient according to requirement of plants. 

What are controlled release fertilizers?

• A controlled release fertilizer is a coated or granulated that releases nutrient gradually into the soil, they are also made available to the target at the desired rate and concentration level. 
• it can sustain the nutrient in the soil for a longer period which helps to improve nutrient use efficiency (NUE) by less frequent dosing. It can also efficiently reduce environmental hazards by decreasing nutrient removal rate from the soil by rain or irrigation.
• It can decrease the fertilizer application rate by 20-30%. It provides  economic advantage in terms of saving labor, time and energy.. 

        

        

                                            👅Types of coating material on urea fertilizers have classified broadly into two categories- organic and inorganic; among organic fertilizers there are two types of polymers which are used as coating materials which are synthetic polymers which include polyurethane, polyethylene, alkyd resin, polyphenol, polyvinyl alcohol and natural polymers which include starch, cellulose, biochar and among inorganic polymers, the coating materials include bentonite, Sulphur based coating materials, gypsum and zinc

 

Inorganic material based coatings ---- 

Minerals such as hydroxyapatite, bentonite, zeolite and attapulgite were explored as they can act as soil conditioners and improve the physical and chemical and chemical properties of the soil as well as ion-exchange properties that favor plant growth

Organic material based coating -----

                                     1. Synthetic polymer-based coating. 

                                         2. Natural polymer-based coating.