Fertilizers - Urea

Fertilizer (or fertiliser) is any organic or inorganic material of natural or synthetic origin (other than liming materials) that is added to a soil to supply one or more plant nutrients essential to the growth of plants. Fertilizers come in various forms. The most typical form is solid fertilizer in granulated or powdered forms. The next most common form is liquid fertilizer; some advantages of liquid fertilizer are its immediate effect and wide coverage. Fertilizers are broadly divided into organic fertilizers (composed of organic plant or animal matter), or inorganic or commercial fertilizers. Plants can only absorb their required nutrients if they are present in easily dissolved chemical compounds. Both organic and inorganic fertilizers provide the same needed chemical compounds.

 

Organic fertilizers provided other macro and micro plant nutrients and are released as the organic matter decays—this may take months or years. Organic fertilizers nearly always have much lower concentrations of plant nutrients and have the usual problems of economical collection, treatment, transportation and distribution.

 

Inorganic fertilizers nearly always are readily dissolved and unless added have few other macro and micro plant nutrients nor added any 'bulk' to the soil. Nearly all nitrogen that plants use is in the form of NH3 or NO3 compounds. The usable phosphorus compounds are usually in the form of phosphoric acid (H3PO4) and the potassium (K) is typically in the form of potassium chloride (KCl).

 

Urea is an inexpensive form of nitrogen fertilizer with an NPK (nitrogen-phosphorus-potassium) ratio of *****0. Although urea is naturally produced in humans and animals, synthetic urea is manufactured with anhydrous ammonia. Although urea often offers gardeners the most nitrogen for the lowest price on the market, special steps must be taken when applying urea to the soil to prevent the loss of nitrogen through a chemical reaction.

 

Urea fertilizer, also known as carbamide, is the most important nitrogenous fertilizer. It is a white crystalline organic chemical compound containing about *6 percent nitrogen. It is a waste product formed naturally by metabolizing protein in humans as well as other mammals, amphibians and some fish. Synthetic urea is produced commercially from ammonia and carbon dioxide. Urea is widely used in the agriculture sector both as a fertilizer and animal feed additive, which makes the production of urea considerably high in comparison to other fertilizers.