Improving crop productivity and nitrogen use efficiency using sulfur and zinc-coated urea: A review

Abstract

Nitrogen (N) is an important macro-nutrient required for crop production and is considered an important commodity for agricultural systems. Urea is a vital source of N that is used widely across the globe to meet crop N requirements. However, N applied in the form of urea is mostly lost in soil, posing serious economic and environmental issues. Therefore, different approaches such as the application of urea coated with different substances are used worldwide to reduce N losses. Urea coating is considered an imperative approach to enhance crop production and reduce the corresponding nitrogen losses along with its impact on the environment. In addition, given the serious food security challenges in meeting the current and future demands for food, the best agricultural management strategy to enhance food production have led to methods that involve coating urea with different nutrients such as sulfur (S) and zinc (Zn). Coated urea has a slow-release mechanism and remains in the soil for a longer period to meet the demand of crop plants and increases nitrogen use efficiency, growth, yield, and grain quality. These nutrient-coated urea reduce nitrogen losses (volatilization, leaching, and N2O) and save the environment from degradation. Sulfur and zinc-coated urea also reduce nutrient deficiencies and have synergetic effects with other macro and micronutrients in the crop. This study discusses the dynamics of sulfur and zinc-coated urea in soil, their impact on crop production, nitrogen use efficiency (NUE), the residual and toxic effects of coated urea, and the constraints of adopting coated fertilizers. Additionally, we also shed light on agronomic and molecular approaches to enhance NUE for better crop productivity to meet food security challenges.

Growth, Yield, and Agronomic Use Efficiency of Delayed Sown Wheat under Slow-Release Nitrogen Fertilizer and Seeding Rate

“…It reduces nitrogen release from urea, which helps improve nitrogen availability for a longer duration. SCU also reduced the leaching of nitrogen [49,52,53].…”

Rapid and Inexpensive Assay for Testing the Efficiency of Potential New Synthetic Nitrification Inhibitors

“…Supplementary information about the optimization of the assay for water-insoluble NIs (Figures S1 and S2 and Table S1); optical density (350−650 nm range) of N. europaea in NaPB (pH 7.5) at different dilutions of a bacterial subculture (Supplementary Figure S3); optical density of N. europaea in NaPB (pH 7.5) at 600 nm as a function of protein concentrations (Figure S4); NO 2 − production by N. europaea in NaPB at different pH and temperatures (Figure S5); correlation between the OD 600 and formation of NO 2 − during culturing of N. europaea in mineral salt media (MSM) over three days (Supplementary Table S2); NO 2 − production after inoculating N. europaea (OD 600 = 0.03) with different [NH 4 + ] (Table S3); NO 2 − production after inoculating N. multiformis (OD 600 = 0.03) with NH 4 + (Table S4); inhibition of NO 2 − formation after inoculating N. europaea (OD 600 = 0.03) with inhibitor compounds 1− 16 (Table S5); inhibition of NO 2 − formation after inoculating N. multiformis (OD 600 = 0.03) with selected inhibitor compounds (Table S6…”

“…According to estimates, the annual crop production needs to increase by almost 40% by 2050 to meet food needs . It is common practice to use nitrogen (N) fertilizers in agricultural systems to maximize crop yield; − however, since the 1980s, the N use efficiencies (NUEs) have remained at only around 50% globally. − Ammonia (NH 3 ) volatilization and leaching of nitrate (NO 3 – ) are major pathways for unwanted N losses from the plant/soil system, causing damaging eutrophication of surface waters and groundwater pollution. In addition, nitrification–denitrification processes can lead to the emission of the very potent greenhouse gas nitrous oxide (N 2 O) into the atmosphere.…”

Effect of Different Concentrations of Sulphur on the Economic Yield of Three Chickpea (Cicer Arietinum) Varieties

“…Insu cient sulphur availability can hinder plant growth, seed maturation, and productivity. Optimal sulphur levels during vegetative growth and canopy formation can increase photosynthetic surface area, enabling the synthesis of carbohydrates and allocation to seed development (Mustafa et al, 2022).…”