Biodegradable Polymer Coated Granular Urea Slows Down N Release Kinetics and Improves Spinach Productivity
Bilal Beig,
Muhammad Bilal Khan Niazi,
Zaib Jahan,
Salik Javed Kakar,
Ghulam Abbas Shah,
Muhammad Shahid,
Munir Zia,
Midrar Ul Haq,
Muhammad Imtiaz Rashid
Affiliations
Bilal Beig
Department of Chemical Engineering, School of Chemical and Materials Engineering, National University of Sciences and Technology, Islamabad 24090, Pakistan
Muhammad Bilal Khan Niazi
Department of Chemical Engineering, School of Chemical and Materials Engineering, National University of Sciences and Technology, Islamabad 24090, Pakistan
Zaib Jahan
Department of Chemical Engineering, School of Chemical and Materials Engineering, National University of Sciences and Technology, Islamabad 24090, Pakistan
Salik Javed Kakar
Department of Healthcare Biotechnology, Atta-ur-Rahman School of Applied Biosciences (ASAB), National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST), Sector H-12, Islamabad 24090, Pakistan
Ghulam Abbas Shah
Department of Agronomy, PMAS-Arid Agriculture University, Murree Road Rawalpindi, Punjab 10370, Pakistan
Muhammad Shahid
Department of Bioinformatics and Biotechnology, Government College University, Faisalabad 38000, Pakistan
Munir Zia
Research and Development Department, Fauji Fertilizer Company Limited, 156-The Mall, Rawalpindi, Punjab 46300, Pakistan
Midrar Ul Haq
Research and Development Department, Fauji Fertilizer Company Limited, 156-The Mall, Rawalpindi, Punjab 46300, Pakistan
Muhammad Imtiaz Rashid
Centre of Excellence in Environmental Studies, King Abdul Aziz University, Jeddah 21589, Saudi Arabia
Low nitrogen (N) utilization efficiency due to environmental N losses from fertilizers results in high-cost on-farm production. Urea coating with biodegradable polymers can prevent these losses by controlling the N release of fertilizers. We calculated N release kinetics of coated granular with various biodegradable polymeric materials and its impact on spinach yield and N uptake. Different formulations were used, (i) G-1: 10% starch + 5% polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) + 5% molasses; (ii) G-2: 10% starch + 5% PVA + 5% paraffin wax (PW); (iii) G-3: 5% gelatin + 10% gum arabic + 5% PW; (iv) G-4: 5% molasses + 5% gelatin + 10% gum arabic, to coat urea using a fluidized bed coater. The morphological and X-ray diffraction (XRD) analyses indicated that a uniform coating layer with no new phase formation occurred. In the G-2 treatment, maximum crushing strength (72.9 N) was achieved with a slowed-down N release rate and increased efficiency of 31%. This resulted in increased spinach dry foliage yield (47%), N uptake (60%) and apparent N recovery (ANR: 130%) from G-2 compared to uncoated urea (G-0). Therefore, coating granular urea with biodegradable polymers is a good choice to slower down the N release rate and enhances the crop yield and N utilization efficiency from urea.
