Published Paper Details:

A pot experiment was conducted to investigate the impact of urea fertilizer treated with corn or conocarpus residues on the growth and nitrogen uptake of wheat plants. Three kilograms of dry sandy loam soil were placed in plastic pots, and four nitrogen levels (0, 60, 120, and 180 kg N ha -1) were applied in the form of urea. The urea was treated using one of the following methods: mixed with conocarpus leaf powder at a rate of 3% of the dry soil weight, mixed with conocarpus root powder at a rate of 3% of the dry soil weight dissolved in an aqueous extract of corn roots at a rate of 1/4 of the field capacity, or coated with dried aqueous extract of corn roots at a ratio of 9% of the urea weight. Additionally, urea treated with a standard chemical inhibitor (PMA) was included in the treatments. Measurements of shoot dry weight, nitrogen concentration, nitrogen uptake, and nitrogen recovery were taken. The results indicated that treating urea fertilizer with water extract or coating it with corn root extract led to enhanced growth parameters compared to the PMA and control treatments. However, treating urea with leaf or root powders resulted in a decrease in plant growth parameters. Urea coated with 9% dried corn root extract produced the highest dry matter of 2.98 g pot-1 and nitrogen uptake of 66.95 mg pot-1, achieving a reduction of 50 kg N ha-1 while yielding similar results to the control and PMA treatments.