How Controlled-Release Fertilizers Help Reduce Nitrogen Losses

Nitrogen losses through ammonia volatilization can significantly reduce fertilizer efficiency and farm profitability. Controlled-release fertilizers such as Agromaster protect nutrients with a polymer coating that synchronizes nutrient release with crop demand, helping reduce losses to the atmosphere while improving nitrogen use efficiency.

Nitrogen is one of the most important nutrients for crop production, but it is also one of the most vulnerable to loss. After fertilizer application, nitrogen can be lost through leaching, runoff, or volatilization into the atmosphere as ammonia. These losses reduce fertilizer efficiency and can significantly affect farm profitability.

Improving nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) is therefore a key priority for modern agriculture. Fertilizer technologies such as controlled-release fertilizers (CRFs) are designed to address this challenge by delivering nutrients gradually and more precisely in line with crop uptake.

The research featured in the video above shows how scientists measure ammonia emissions in fertilizer trials and how controlled-release fertilizers can help reduce nitrogen losses.

Why is Ammonia Volatilization a Major Source of Nitrogen Loss?

When nitrogen fertilizers are applied to soil, a portion of the nitrogen can be lost to the atmosphere as ammonia gas. This process, known as ammonia volatilization, can represent one of the most significant losses of applied nitrogen in the field.

From a farmer’s perspective, this loss represents wasted fertilizer investment. At the same time, ammonia emissions contribute to air pollution and wider environmental impacts.

For this reason, researchers are increasingly focusing on ways to reduce nitrogen losses immediately after fertilizer application, when the risk of volatilization is highest.

How do Scientists Measure Ammonia Emissions in Fertilizer Trials?

Understanding nitrogen losses requires precise field monitoring and laboratory analysis. In the trial shown in the video, Dr. Kitti Balog from the HUN-REN Centre for Agricultural Research (ATK) in Hungary explains how she measures ammonia volatilization using a closed-chamber method placed directly over the soil surface.

Each chamber contains an absorbent material treated with a mixture of glycerol and phosphoric acid. As ammonia volatilizes from the soil and fertilizer, it is captured by the absorbent and chemically converted into ammonium.

The absorbent samples are then collected and transported to a laboratory for analysis. There, the solution is extracted and processed through distillation and titration procedures to quantify the amount of ammonium captured.

This process allows researchers to calculate how much nitrogen was lost as ammonia after fertilizer application and to compare different fertilizer technologies under field conditions.

How do Controlled-Release Fertilizers Help Reduce Nitrogen Losses?

Controlled-release fertilizers are designed to release nutrients gradually rather than immediately after application.

In products such as Agromaster, key nutrients are protected by a polymer coating that acts as a physical membrane around each fertilizer granule. This coating prevents direct contact between the nutrients and the soil environment immediately after application.

Instead, nutrients are released gradually through the coating under the influence of soil temperature. As temperatures increase, nutrients diffuse through the membrane in a predictable way.

This controlled nutrient release offers several important advantages:

• Nutrients are supplied gradually over time
• Release patterns better match crop nutrient demand
• Potential for nitrogen loss is reduced
• Nutrient use efficiency improves

By avoiding a large initial surge of available nitrogen in the soil, controlled-release fertilizers can significantly reduce the risk of volatilization and other nitrogen losses.

What Do Field Trials Tell us About CRF Performance?

Field trials and laboratory measurements allow researchers to directly compare conventional fertilizers with controlled-release technologies.

By measuring ammonia emissions after fertilizer application, scientists can evaluate how effectively different fertilizers reduce nitrogen losses to the atmosphere.

These trials provide valuable data to help farmers and agronomists select fertilizer strategies that improve nitrogen efficiency while maintaining strong crop performance across a wide range of crops.

Improving Nitrogen Use Efficiency in Modern Agriculture

As fertilizer costs increase and environmental pressures grow, improving nitrogen use efficiency is becoming an essential part of sustainable crop production.

Controlled-release fertilizers offer a practical solution by synchronizing nutrient availability with crop demand while reducing losses to the soil and atmosphere.

Research and field monitoring continue to demonstrate how technologies such as Agromaster can help farmers protect their nitrogen investment while improving the sustainability of nutrient management.