ORIGINAL RESEARCH
Bioactive Zincated Urea Effectively Enhanced
Crop Yield, Nitrogen Use Efficiency, and Grain
Quality in Maize and Rice
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1
Soil and Environmental Sciences Division, Nuclear Institute for Agriculture and Biology (NIAB),
P.O Box 128, Jhang Road, Faisalabad 38000, Pakistan
2
Department of Agronomy, Engro Fertilizers Limited, Lahore, Pakistan
3
Institute of Environment and Sustainable Development in Agriculture, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences
(CAAS), Beijing, China
4
Nuclear Institute for Agriculture and Biology College, Pakistan Institute of Engineering and Applied Sciences (PIEAS),
PO Box 128, Jhang Road Faisalabad 38000, Pakistan
5
Crop Stress Physiology Lab., Department of Agronomy, University of Agriculture Faisalabad, Pakistan
Submission date: 2023-04-28
Final revision date: 2023-06-13
Acceptance date: 2023-06-16
Online publication date: 2023-11-03
Publication date: 2023-12-19
Corresponding author
Muhammad Rizwan Khan
Soil and Environmental Sciences Division, Nuclear Institute for Agriculture and Biology (NIAB), Faisalabad, Pakistan, Jhang Road, 38000, Faisalabad, Pakistan
Pol. J. Environ. Stud. 2024;33(1):43-60
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ABSTRACT
Coating materials generally a provide physical barrier to control instant dissolution of the urea
fertilizer thereby delaying its consequent reactions in soil. The use of zinc salt as coating material
causes slow dissolution of urea due to physical impact and hence minimizes immediate urea hydrolysis,
ammonia (NH3) volatilization and enhances N utilization in crop production. The current investigation
studied the impact of Bioactive Zincated urea on NH3 losses, yield parameters and quality traits
of maize and rice crops grown under field conditions. Treatments included Bioactive zincated urea
(ZU) was applied at 100%, 90% and 80% of recommended N rates (RNR) (125 and 160 kg N ha-1
for rice and maize, respectively) having a control (zero N application), conventional urea at RNR
(CU100) without Zn and along with Zn (CU+Zn) treatments. The NH3 losses were recorded at 2, 4, 7
and 14 days after application of each split application of N treatments. The results indicated 117 and
6% increase in maize grain and 167 and 2.7% in total paddy yield as compared to control (no Zn) and
CU+Zn, respectively while the corresponding increase in grain Zn concentration was 37 and 15% in
maize and 25 and 14% in rice, respectively. Similarly, the corresponding grain N increases were 16
and 22%. Furthermore, ZU100 application markedly decreased NH3 volatilization (5 to 14% in maize
and 2 to 24% in rice field) as compared to CU100. The studies clearly elucidates the effectiveness of
Bioactive zincated urea in increasing yield and quality of crops (rice and maize); the lower N application (up to 80% of RNR) is possible without imminent impact on crop yield as well as on environment owing
to lower N losses.