Nousbo developed an eco-friendly biodegradable fertilizer coating technology

(Nousbo developed an eco-friendly biodegradable fertilizer coating that can be completely decomposed by microorganisms in the soil)

One of the major challenges of the Earth population in the 21st century is to reduce an environmental load and greenhouse gas emissions. The current food production’s contribution to total greenhouse gas emissions is about 35% of global total emissions. To this total, the fertilizer emissions due to inefficient usage were estimated to be 14–18% or 5–6% of global total GHG emissions. Application of slow release fertilizers instead of conventional fertilizers increases a fertilizer use efficiency and reduces nutrient loss due to leaching or volatilization, because nutrients are supplied in a controlled manner. Due to the slow release time of fertilizer, a large amount of application will not lead to excessive soil salinity or "burn seedlings", thus the negative effect on the environment is reduced. In addition, it can reduce labor and fertilization cost by reducing the frequency of fertilizer application. Therefore slow release fertilizers are becoming popular especially in rural areas that have recently experienced a severe labor shortage.

Among slow release fertilizers, the coated fertilizers can cause environmental pollution due to the accumulation of microplastic, because the shell of the granule is not decomposed. To solve this problem, Nousbo Co., Ltd. developed a manufacturing technology of fertilizer coating material that is completely degraded by microorganisms in the soil. The development of the biodegradable release technology is expected to bring about a big change in a use of fertilizer coating materials. Currently many companies all around the world are conducting researches to solve the problem of microplastic accumulation related to fertilizer coating materials. Nousbo developed technology that fundamentally solves the problems of the previous technology by completely decomposing the coating shell by microorganisms. Nousbo continues research and development to lead the innovation of coating fertilizer manufacturing technology.

With the growing interest for corporate ESG management in all industries, the development of the biodegradable coating fertilizer material made it possible to reduce environmental pollution compared to existing coating materials. Nousbo is planning to launch mass production of fertilizes coated with biodegradable materials by 2024 and export them all around the world. With the development of this technology, we will spread K-Agriculture all around the world and become one of the biggest global fertilizer companies.