Agriculture

Optimizing Nitrogen

Nitrogen has a special role among all nutrients in the soil: Plants need large quantities to achieve high yield and quality. In agriculture, productivity for high yield is just as important as current environmental challenges.

For balanced crop nutrition, growers need to optimize uptake of nutrients and reduce nitrogen loss all while facing economic pressures, scarce resources and increasing government regulations. For farmers, lost nitrogen means lower crop yields and financial losses. For the environment, ammonia emissions can contribute to acidification and excessive nitrogen in habitats, affecting biodiversity, while nitrate leaching results in eutrophication of water bodies. For public health, ammonia forms smog which can have significant health impacts. The greenhouse gas nitrous oxide is particularly impactful to climate change.

 

Nitrogen fertilizer is applied to the soil
Nitrogen loss to the environment
Nitrogen absorption by plants

Nitrogen stabilizers help ensure nitrogen is available to the crops when they need it most. Standard nitrogen fertilizers treated with BASF urease inhibitors (UI) or nitrification inhibitors (NI) help growers get more out of their nitrogen fertilizers. This can improve plant nitrogen up-take, which maximizes yield potential and in turn economic advantages, while helping to reduce the environmental impacts of nitrogen losses.

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There are four indicators that help regulate and reduce nitrogen losses: source, rate, time, and place. 

Understanding Nitrogen Loss (Environmental and Agronomic Challenges):

Farmer shows soil in which grain grows

Nitrogen is the engine of plant growth. Yet when lost to the soil, water, and air, nitrogen may harm the environment. BASF’s nitrogen stabilizers solve this by optimizing nitrogen availability to make it available for the crop when it needs it most, as well as reducing emissions from fertilizers.

What does this mean for the environment?

What does this mean for the yield potential?

 

The Nitrogen Use Efficiency Solution (Products and Services)

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BASF’s nitrogen stabilizer technologies and proprietary formulation technologies are easily applied onto solid and liquid mineral fertilizer, as well as in liquid organic fertilizers like manure and biogas digestate. They reduce the N losses, ensuring that more nitrogen is available for the crop. Our team of technical and agronomic experts guide you to find the optimal combination of fertilizer and stabilizer technology and are your partners through every step.

 

BASF products and services to optimize NUE

 

If you have questions or want more information, please send us an e-mail.

Related topics

Fertilizer

Please note that BASF does not directly sell fertilizers to farmers or end consumers.