article · Environmental Pollution and Management
Conventional inorganic fertilisers, while effective, can lead to environmental issues such as greenhouse gas emissions, reduced soil quality, and water contamination due to nutrient loss. Enhanced Efficiency Fertilisers (EEFs) address these problems by gradually releasing nutrients, ensuring better synchronisation with plant uptake and reducing the need for frequent applications. This approach not only benefits the environment by minimising nutrient loss but can also improve soil structure and reduce erosion. However, some EEF production methods are not entirely environmentally or cost-friendly, and their effects can vary due to differences in fertiliser batches and soil conditions. This review discusses EEF production methods, materials, nutrient release mechanisms, benefits, challenges, and potential solutions, aiming to stimulate further research and guide farmers in selecting appropriate fertilisers.
This research is important because it highlights how Enhanced Efficiency Fertilisers can help overcome the environmental and soil degradation issues caused by conventional fertilisers. By improving nutrient use and reducing waste, these fertilisers support more sustainable agricultural practices, leading to better crop yields and healthier soils for the future.
This review provides foundational knowledge for the development and application of Enhanced Efficiency Fertilisers, which could be used by farmers to improve crop production and maintain soil health. It identifies challenges in current EEF formulation and application, suggesting opportunities for fertiliser manufacturers and agricultural technology companies to develop more environmentally friendly and cost-effective products. This work is at an early-stage research and development level, aiming to guide future innovation.
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The application of fertilizers is necessary for continuous replenishment of plants nutrients, sustaining the productivity of soils. Inorganic fertilizers are very simple, chemically defined, water soluble, and easily absorbed for immediate and reproducible responses in plants. In excess of plants needs however, they do not only scorch plants, but are also lost to the atmosphere as greenhouse gases. Prolonged usage leads to reduced soil quality, soil acidification (accompanied by dissolution of soil carbonate and greenhouse gases emission), and contamination of underground water. Increasing nutrients use efficiency ameliorates these problems by ensuring a better synchronization of nutrients availability with nutrients uptake. Without increasing the frequency of fertilization and the associated labor cost (encountered in split-fertilization), enhanced efficiency fertilizers (EEFs) gradually make nutrients available over a long period of time, ensuring that plants needs are met after a single seasonal fertilization, without compromising the integrity of soil. EEFs do not only benefits the environment by retarding nutrients availability; some of the materials used in EEFs formulation also impact beneficial qualities (e.g., improved soil structure, and reduced erosion) to soil. The production of EEFs, such as coated fertilizers, depending on the nature of the coat, are not completely environmentally and cost friendly; and the effects of certain EEFs are not easily reproducible due to variability between fertilizer batches and soil conditions. These challenges in development and application of different EEFs, and potential solutions, materials used in their formulation, in addition to the advantages of their usage are discussed. The information contained herein are expected to arouse more research in sustainable development of EEFs and assist farmers in selecting the best kind of fertilizers, depending on the plants and soil condition, for improved crops production, while sustaining soil health.
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DOI: 10.1016/j.epm.2024.07.002
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