A novel interpenetrating polymer network (IPN) has been synthesized through enzymatic initiation using lipase as initiator, glutaraldehyde as cross-linker, acrylic acid as primary monomer and acrylamide as secondary monomer. Biodegradability of synthesized interpenetrating polymer network was studied through soil burial and composting methods. Synthesized hydrogel was completely degraded within...

Slow-release fertilizers are gaining acceptance to increase fertilizer use efficiency and reduce environmental impact. The release of nitrogen from methylene urea, a common slow release N fertilizer, is controlled by microbial decomposition. An enzyme hydrolyzing slowrelease nitrogen fertilizer, methylene urea, was purified from Rhizobium radiobacter (Agrobacterium tumefaciens) to homogeneity u...

One of the principal aims of alternative cropping systems is to minimize excessive loss of N while maximizing N use efficiency and meeting crop N requirements. Many such cropping systems substitute intensive application of synthetic fertilizer with organic inputs, such as N2-fixing legumes. The effectiveness of legume residues as a N source for subsequent crops depends heavily on temporal N rel...

A field experiment was conducted for two years in the Green Tea Laboratory of Saitama Prefectural Agriculture and Forestry Research Center, Iruma, Saitama, Japan from March 2014 to December 2015. Controlled release fertilizers (CRF) or organic fertilizers (ORG), which are a mixture of chicken manure and oil cake, were applied with the amount of 450 kg·N·ha−1·year−1 in 2014 and 397 kg·N·ha−1·yea...

Polymer-coated fertilizer (PCF) provides a potential means to optimize nutrient delivery for plant uptake, while minimizing leaching. Coating technology varies by manufacturer, which may alter patterns of nutrient release over time among comparable products. Three months following sowing, Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii (Mirb.) Franco) seedlings were transplanted into containers with Osmocot...

Controlled release fertilizers (CRFs) are a branch of materials that are designed to improve the soil release kinetics of chemical fertilizers to address problems stemming losses from runoff or other factors. Current CRFs are used but only in a limited market due to relatively high costs and doubts about their abilities to result in higher yields and increased profitability for agricultural bus...

The integrated soil fertility management paradigm, currently advocated in Sub-Saharan Africa for rehabilitating its soils, recognizes the possible interactive benefits of combining organic residues with mineral fertilizer inputs on agroecosystem functioning. Residue quality may be a controlling factor for any beneficial interactions. The objectives of this study were to determine the effect of ...