About Efficiency Enhancers

The use of nitrogen is essential for agricultural production but only about 50% of nitrogen applied through fertilisers is absorbed by plants.

Nitrogen fertiliser comprises either urea, ammonium or nitrate and their mixtures. Urea nitrogen is not readily plant available and must undergo hydrolysis via the naturally occurring urease enzyme to ammonium (NH4). Hydrolysis occurs when urea is applied to the soil surface leading to regular losses of 10-30% of ammonia to the atmosphere through ammonia volatilization.

To slow down the hydrolysis of urea, urease inhibitors (UIs) can be applied thereby reducing ammonia emissions by close to 70% (Bittman et al. 2014). As a result, less nitrogen is released into the environment and this nutrient remains available for growing crops. While ammonium nitrogen (NH4+) is effectively retained by the soil and resistant to loss, naturally occurring soil bacteria convert it to nitrate (NO3-) and release nitrous oxide (N2O) through nitrification. Nitrous oxide is a very potent greenhouse gas (2981x CO2) with an atmospheric lifetime of over 100 years.