Adding urea makes foliar fertilisers more effective

Urea can significantly improve the effectiveness of foliar fertilisers. This is evident from an analysis of dozens of experiments in cereals, legumes, vegetables and fruits. Most of these experiments aimed the fortification of grains and pulses for human consumption with essential minerals such as iron and zinc. Surprisingly, urea can also improve the effectiveness of foliar fertilisers when they are used to correct nutrient deficiencies in crops themselves. The research was conducted by the digital popular science magazine Plant nutrition courier and reported in its just published issue.

New insights

The analysis shows that the ″urea effect″ is not based on the contribution to the nitrogen supply of the crop. The uncharged molecule has many other beneficial properties, some of which have not yet been completely clarified. The research by the digital magazine shows that these properties of urea are hardly used in fertilisation practice. Formulators also rarely add urea to improve the effectiveness of foliar fertilisers, probably due to unfamiliarity with the versatile effects of this nitrogen source. Formulators of crop protection products often do know the different functions of urea and make appropriate use of them. The analysis provides new insights into the conditions under which an effect of urea on the uptake and transport of the applied foliar fertilisers may be expected.