A REVIEW ON NEEM COATED UREA AS CONTROLLED RELEASE AGRICULTURAL FORMULATION

Fertilizers are the chemicals that are added to soil so that necessary nutrients can be provided to the plants for increased crop production. Primarily Nitrogen (50-70%) is added to the soil as a conventional source of fertilizer. It is identified as the most significant element for the growth of the plants. In India, urea alone supplies about 82% of Nitrogen.As urea itself is highly water soluble, when it is mixed to the soil, immediately the leaching advances and as a result the Nitrogen utilization efficiency (NUE) by plants gets reduced. Therefore, it is essential to improve the formulation of the fertilizers in a way that it supplies nutrients as and when required for the proper plant growth and development. Controlled release (CR) agricultural formulations have long been recognized as the best solution to traditional formulations. With the implementation of slow-release fertilizers (SRFs), the requirement of fertilizers decreases as fertilizer use proficiency of the plantsincreases significantly. The use of SRFs may also reduce the environmental pollution. As a CR fertilizer the Neem coated urea (NCU) is ascertained as one of the best alternatives to supply the nutrient as per the demand of the plants and to reduce the environmental contamination.