Nitrogen is one of the most important nutrients for agricultural productivity, but its uptake by plants depends on a series of processes that take place after fertilizer application. Among the main challenges are ammonia volatilization, nitrate leaching, and other transformations that can reduce the amount of nitrogen available to crops.
This is the topic of the third episode of the Agrinsight Podcast, featuring Heitor Cantarella, a researcher at the Agronomic Institute of Campinas (IAC) and a specialist in soil fertility, plant nutrition, and fertilizer use efficiency. His scientific career includes research on nitrogen losses and the environmental impacts associated with fertilization.
The discussion highlights a central issue for agribusiness: how can applied nitrogen be used more efficiently, waste be reduced, and productivity be aligned with environmental responsibility?
What Are the Main Nitrogen Losses in Soil?
Nitrogen losses occur through different mechanisms, influenced by the fertilizer source used, environmental conditions, and fertilization management. The main pathways include ammonia volatilization, nitrate leaching, and gaseous emissions resulting from nitrogen transformations in the soil.
Each process has its own characteristics and requires specific management strategies.
Ammonia volatilization: occurs when part of the nitrogen in the fertilizer is released into the atmosphere as ammonia gas. This process deserves particular attention when urea is surface-applied, since soil and weather conditions can favor losses before the nutrient is taken up by the crop.
Nitrate leaching: occurs when nitrate is transported by water through the soil profile and may move beyond the root zone. The risk depends on factors such as the amount of water moving through the soil, soil characteristics, and nitrogen dynamics within the system.
Gaseous emissions: biological transformations of nitrogen in the soil can also result in emissions of nitrogen-containing gases, including nitrous oxide (N₂O), a greenhouse gas. These emissions connect fertilization efficiency to a broader environmental issue.
Understanding these differences is essential to avoid generic solutions. A technology designed to address volatilization, for example, should not automatically be considered capable of controlling all forms of nitrogen loss.
Why Can Urea Lose Nitrogen Through Volatilization?
Urea is a widely used source of nitrogen fertilizer, but its behavior after application requires attention. Once it comes into contact with the soil, it is affected by the enzyme urease, which promotes its transformation and can lead to ammonia formation.
When urea remains on the soil surface and conditions favor volatilization, part of the nitrogen can escape into the atmosphere. Temperature, moisture, soil characteristics, crop residues, and rainfall after application all influence the intensity of this process.
This means that urea efficiency does not depend only on the amount applied. Timing, application conditions, and technologies used to protect the nutrient can also affect the outcome.
How Can Nitrogen Losses in Agriculture Be Reduced?
Reducing nitrogen losses depends on combining proper management with technologies suited to the specific mechanism being addressed. The first step is to understand field conditions and identify which factors pose the greatest risk to fertilizer efficiency.
Strategies that can help improve efficiency include:
- Plan application timing: consider weather conditions and the likelihood of rainfall, avoiding decisions based on a single isolated forecast factor.
- Adjust fertilization to crop needs: use agronomic recommendations suited to the crop, soil, and production system.
- Consider soil characteristics: assess texture, moisture, organic matter, and other conditions that influence nitrogen behavior.
- Use protection technologies: select solutions according to the type of loss to be reduced and the conditions under which the fertilizer will be used.
These measures do not eliminate every risk, but they help build a more consistent management strategy. The goal is to increase the proportion of applied nitrogen that remains available and is effectively used by the production system.
Read also: Super El Niño: climate risk increases concerns for agribusiness. – Adfert
How Do Urease Inhibitors Help Protect Nitrogen?
Urease inhibitors are technologies developed to temporarily slow the activity of the enzyme responsible for urea transformation. By reducing the speed of this process, they can lower the risk of ammonia volatilization and provide a greater opportunity for nitrogen to be incorporated into the soil.
One of the technologies used is NBPT, which is applied in formulations designed to protect urea. Its contribution is mainly related to volatilization control, and its performance depends on factors such as environmental conditions, management practices, and application characteristics.
Technology selection should be based on technical evidence and the realities of each production system. There is no single solution for every nitrogen loss mechanism, and the use of inhibitors does not replace sound agronomic planning.
Adfert operates in this segment with its line of inhibitors, developed to support fertilizer protection and efficiency. To learn more about the company’s approach, visit Adfert’s sustainable solutions page.
Nitrogen Efficiency Is Also an Environmental Issue
When nitrogen is not used efficiently, the impact goes beyond the cost of the fertilizer itself. Depending on the mechanism involved, losses may contribute to atmospheric emissions and to the movement of nitrogen compounds into water resources.
For this reason, improving nitrogen use efficiency is a strategy that connects agronomic performance with environmental responsibility. Proper management and protection technologies can help reduce waste, provided they are used according to their intended purposes and limitations.
This relationship between efficiency and sustainability is also part of Adfert’s discussion in its article on how reducing fertilizer losses contributes to more efficient agriculture.
How Can Each Nitrogen Application Be Used More Effectively?
Nitrogen fertilization efficiency begins with understanding how the nutrient behaves in the soil. Identifying the main pathways of loss, adjusting management to field conditions, and choosing appropriate technologies are important steps toward making better use of the fertilizer applied.
In the third episode of the Agrinsight Podcast, Heitor Cantarella helps bring this technical and environmental challenge into focus. The topic reinforces the importance of bringing research, agronomic knowledge, and innovation together to advance nutrient use efficiency.
Reducing nitrogen losses is not simply about applying fertilizer more effectively: it is about improving nutrient use, increasing efficiency throughout the production system, and making decisions aligned with the sustainability of agriculture.
Source: Agrinsight Podcast — Episode 03: Nitrogen: Agriculture’s Most Important and Most Wasted Nutrient.
