Ammonia Volatilization investigation of urea-kaolinite controlled release fertilizer with chitosan binder

Broadcasting of controlled release fertilizers to agricultural soils can reduce losses of NH3 by volatilization. In this study, urea intercalated kaolinite was mixed with chitosan 6% as a binder and then was granulated. Ammonia volatilization was determined for conventional urea fertilizer and urea intercalated kaolinite with chitosan 6% using the force-draft technique for 10 weeks. Results illustrate that the total amount of NH3-N loss for CUF and UIKF-chitosan 6% was 68.63% and 56.75% respectively. The effect of soil pH also was monitored daily for 10 days by adding 0.40 gN/Kg soil. This product with good controlled release, being degradable in soil and environment friendly, could be especially useful in agricultural and horticultural applications

Keywords:

Controlled Release Fertilizer , Ammonia Volatilization , Chitosan