Effects of Coating of Urea on Yield and Nitrogen Recovery of Rice

For its advantages of easy handling and long availability, coated fertilizer finds tremendous potential of application in China. Field experiments were conducted to compare polypropylene-coated urea with common urea in yield-increasing effect on rice. Results showed that yield of the crop was increased by 22.22% in the low urea treatments; nitrogen use efficiency of the coated urea and common urea treatments was 76.88% and 37.75%, respectively; and N content shoots of the rice in coated urea treatments was 24.09% and 20.03% higher than that in common urea treatments. Coating controlled N release and one application was enough to meet the nutrient requirements of the crop throughout its life cycle. Moreover, it saved much labor and gained considerable economic benefit at a lower N application rate.