What Are Controlled Release Fertilizers and How Do They Work?

Complex fertilizers usually contain N(Nitrogen), P(Phosphorus) and K(Potassium), which are the main macronutrients essential for the growth and development of plants: N helps plant to develop leaves, stems and vegetative parts; P promotes root growth; K improves plant stress tolerance. Deficiency in any of these nutrients can lead to stunted growth, reduced yield and increased susceptibility to diseases and pests. Farmers globally apply millions of tons of fertilizers every year, but can plants absorb them all?

Unfortunately, plants absorb only 25-35% of the applied Nitrogen, 10-15% of the applied Phosphorus and 35-40% of the applied Potassium. The major part of nutrients gets lost by leaching and volatilization processes, causing severe environmental damage. Conventional chemical fertilizers are mixed with soil by plowing, which eventually leads to a reduced utilization rate. Therefore, to increase the utilization rate of fertilizers, CRF (Controlled Release Fertilizer) technology was developed.

What is CRF?

Controlled Release Fertilizer (CRF) is a fertilizer covered by material that enables the release of nutrients in a controlled manner and provides continuous supply of nutrients throughout plant’s growing period. Compared to conventional fertilizers that require multiple applications, CRFs allow for a one-time application, reducing environmental pollution and labor costs. Nousbo succeeded in launching the CRF product in 2019. Nousbo CRF is a fertilizer in the form of granules coated with a polymer that can control the rate, pattern and duration of plant nutrient release. The CRF Coating Process involves spraying of coating material onto a fertilizer granule, resulting in the formation of a coating capsule. The uniformity and accuracy of Nousbo CRF are achieved through the application of a special coating technology.

How do CRFs work?

Nutrient release of the CRF occurs in three steps: Moisture penetration into the capsule; Fertilizer Dissolution; Nutrients release by osmotic pressure. When granules are applied to the soil, water penetrates into the granules and dissolves nutrients, which are later gradually release into the soil. The coating material controls water penetration and availability of nutrients in forms preferred by plants, that result in maximizing crop yields. 

Why choose Nousbo CRF?

With Nousbo innovative coating technology, Nousbo CRF release the nutrients based on the plant’s requirement until harvest. Thus, it can bring the following benefits:

precisely controlled nutrient release over time due to solid and uniform polymer coating.

reduce the fertilization amount.

increase the productivity by enhancing nutrient efficiency.

reduce the number of fertilization & labor fee.

prevent environment from pollutions caused by lost nutrients.

Nousbo CRF was tested for it's efficacy in many countries and the results showed that the avarege fertilizer amout save is 88% [773kg/ha(commercial practice) -> 88.4kg/ha(Nousbo CRF)], the fertilizer application number save is 58% [2.8(commercial practice) -> 1(CRF)], yield increse is 16% [32.61 tone/ha(commercial practice) -> 38.19 tone/ha(CRF)].

(※ All of the trials were performed within 2018~2019)

Nousbo does not stop there and continues to improve the CRF technology to contribute to the sustainable agriculture by increasing nutrient use efficiency and reducing nutrient losses. The next step is to launch mass production of fertilizers coated with biodegradable materials and export them all around the world.

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