Argentina
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Agriculture
N-Management: Solutions to Improve Nitrogen Use Efficiency
Adequate water and nutrition is essential for increasing yields in agriculture. Good results come not just from planting and fertilizing, but by paying close attention to plants’ needs. One of those needs is balancing plant nutrition.
We offer solutions to help growers efficiently manage scarce resources like water, nutrients and useable land. We do this by providing solutions in two key areas:
- Nitrogen management, which includes products that improve nitrogen availability for better plant nutrition and yield potential
- Soil amendments, products which are applied to improve soil health and water use efficiency
For balanced nutrition, growers need to optimize uptake of nutrients and reduce nitrogen loss all while facing economic pressures, scarce resources and increasing government regulations.
Nitrogen use efficiency technologies help ensure nitrogen is available to the crops when they need it most. This makes improved yields possible and gives growers a powerful way to protect their investments and the environment.
Examples of N-Management Products
For more than 100 years growers have used nitrogen-based fertilizers to boost food production. Today, they need the most efficient ways to keep up with the world’s growing demands.
But only about 50% of applied nitrogen is absorbed by plants. The rest is lost to the air and water, or bound to the soil. By making nitrogen available to plants when they need it most, growers can realize:
- Improved efficiency
- Greater certainty
- Innovative approaches
When fertilizer is transformed in the soil in various ways, several forms of nitrogen such as ammonia, nitrous oxide, nitrogen gas, and/or nitrate are lost to the air or groundwater.
Into the air
- Up to 80% of applied urea-N can be lost as ammonia (NH3)
- During nitrification and denitrification, up to 3% of applied nitrogen can be lost as nitrous oxide (N2O)
- During nitrification, up to 20% of applied nitrogen can be lost as nitrogen gas (N2)
Into the water
- Up to 25% of applied fertilizer-N can leach into the water as nitrate (NO3)
Growers can make nitrogen available to crops when they need it most by limiting nitrogen losses using nitrogen use efficiency technologies such as urease and nitrification inhibitors.
Urease inhibitors like Limus®, have shown up to a 98% reduction in ammonia loss.
Nitrification inhibitors like Vizura®, can reduce, on average, nitrate leaching by 35% and nitrous oxide emissions by 50%.
Urease and nitrification inhibitors can make a real difference to nitrogen use efficiency, growers’ economic outcomes, and the environment. By keeping nitrogen available to crops when they need it most, growers can potentially achieve greater yields and greater return on their fertilizer investment.
Using a nitrification inhibitor from BASF can lead to:
- 50% on average, reduction in nitrous oxide emissions
- 35% on average, cut in nitrate losses
- 5% on average, increase in crop yields