70 SOIL USE AND MANAGEMENT Volume 6, Number 2, June 1990

test. In its various forms, this test measures residual nitrate
and/or nitrate that is present in the soil at an early stage
of plant growth in late spring (Tennessee Valley Authority,
1989).
Agricultural scientists frequently ask the question,
‘Would increasing the maximum acceptable limit for nitrate
nitrogen in drinking water (1 1.3 and 10.0 mg per litre for
the UK and US, respectively) be hazardous to human
health?’ Toxicologists are wrestling with the question of
safe upper limits, especially for infants, but ultimately the
public will make judgments about raising or lowering them.
The agricultural scientist should ask, ‘To achieve accept-
able yields, what is the minimum concentration of inorganic
nitrogen that must be maintained in the rhizosphere of a
growing crop plant and for how long?’ Is this concentration
different for different genotypes or varieties? By not answer-
ing such questions agricultural scientists lose the opportun-
ity to provide the kind of information that they are best
qualified to contribute to enable the public to make sound
judgments about nitrate concentrations in water supplies.
CONCLUSION
Agricultural producers, mindful of their stewardship
responsibilities, should practice their art according to the
best dictates of knowledge, but be responsive to the need
for protection of surface and ground waters, and responsive
to public concerns. The immediate challenge to agricultural
researchers is to answer questions posed by the changing
Folitical and social environment affecting agriculture, and
thereby contribute to the profitable production of abundant
food grown in an environmentally sound agriculture.
REFERENCES
ANDREEVA,E.A. & SHCHEGLOVA, G.M. 1966. Utilization of soil nitrogen
and fertilizer nitrogen by plants. Apkhimiya 10,6-19.
ANDRREVA, E.A. & SHCHEGLOVA, G.M. 1967. Uptake of‘soil and fertilizer
nitrogen by plants as revealed by greenhouse pot experiments using
“N. Transaction$ of the3oint Meeting of Commissions I1 and IV, Intema-
tional Society ofsoil Science, 1966, pp. 113-124.
BROADBENT, F.E. & RAUSCHKOLB, R.S. 1977. Nitrogen fertilization and
water pollution. CulijiOrnia Apiculture 31 (S), 24-25.
BOCK,B.R. & HERGERT, G.W. In press. Fertilizer nitrogen management.
In: Managing Nitrogen Jir Cmund Water Quality and Farm PmJitabili@
(eds R.F. Follett & D.R. Keeney), American Society of Agronomy,
Madison, Wisconsin.
ECETOC.1988. NitrateandDrinking Water. Technical Report 27. European
Chemical Industry Ecology and ToxicologyCentre, Brussels, Belgium.
JANSSON, S.L., HALLAM, M.J. & BARTHOLOMEW, W.V. 1955. Preferential
utilization of ammonium over nitrate by microorganisms in the decom-
position of oat straw. Plant and Soil 6,382-390.
JANSSON, S.L. 1958. Tracer studies on nitrogen transformation in soil
with special attention to mineralization-immobilization relationships.
Kungliga Lantbruks-Hoegskolan Annaler 24, 101-361.
JUMA,N.G. & PAUL,E.A. 1983. Effect of a nitrification inhibitor on K
immobilization and release of ‘’N from nonexchangeable ammonium
and microbial biomass. Canadian 3oumal of Soil SciPnce 63, 167-175.
MACWNALD, A.J., POWLSON, D.S., POULTON, P.R., & JENKINSON, D.S.
1989. Unused fertilizer nitrogen in arable soils - its contribution to
nitrate leaching. Journal of the Scinrce of Food and Agrtmlture 45,407-
419.
MARKS,H.F. 1989.A Hundred Years ofBritish Food and Farming. A Statis-
tiutlsumey. Taylor and Francis, London, New York and Philadelphia.
THEROYALSOCIETY. 1983. The Nitrogen Cycle of the United Kinghm.
Rcpori ofa Royual Society Study Group. Royal Society, London.
TENNFSSEE VALLEY AUTHORITY.1989. Interpretative summary: research
and extension needs in humid regions of the United States. In: Soil
Nitrate Testing Workshop (ed. B. R. Bock) TVA Circular 2-250, Tennes-
see Valley Authority, Muscle Shoals, Alabama, pp. 1-5.

Problems in the use of urea as a nitrogen fertilizer

J.M. Bremner
Abstract. N- (n-butyl) thiophosphoric triamide (NBPT)is the most effective compound currently available
for retarding hydrolysis of urea fertilizer in soil and for decreasing ammonia volatilization and nitrite
e accumulation in soils treated with urea. It is a poor inhibitor of plant or microbial urease, but decomposes
quite rapidly in soil with formation of N-(n-butyl) phosphoric triamide, which is a potent inhibitor of urease
activity.
The adverse effects of urea fertilizers on seed germination and seedling growth in soil are due to ammonia
produced through hydrolysis of urea by soil urease. They can be eliminated by addition of a urease inhibitor
to these fertilizers.
The leaf-bum commonly observed after foliar fertilization of soybeans with urea results from accumulation
of toxic amounts of urea in the soybean leaves rather than formation of toxic amounts of ammonia through
urea hydrolysis by leaf urease. Leaf-bum is accordingly increased rather than decreased by addition of a
urease inhibitor to the urea fertilizer applied.

INTRODUCTION

T HE use of urea as a nitrogen fertilizer has increased

dramatically during the past 20 years. It is now the
Department of Agronomy, Iowa State University,Ames, 1A 5001 1, USA.
most important nitrogen fertilizer in world agriculture.
However, there is a clear need to find methods of avoiding
the problems encountered in its use. These problems are
believed to result mainly from the rapid hydrolysis of urea
 SOIL USE AND MANAGEMENT Volume 6, Number 2, June 1990
to ammonia and carbon dioxide by soil urease:
NH2CONHz+H20 -+2NH,+C02
and the accompanying increase in pH and accumulation
of ammonium. The problems include damage to seeds,
seedlings, and young plants, nitrite and/or ammonia toxic-
ity, and volatilization of urea nitrogen as ammonia. Gaseous
loss as ammonia is of particular concern because it can
exceed 50% of the nitrogen applied.
DECREASING AMMONIA
VOLATILIZATION A N D N I T R I T E
A C C U M U L A T I O N BY R E T A R D I N G
T H E RATE O F UREA HYDROLYSIS
One approach to eliminating problems associated with the
use of urea as a fertilizer is to find compounds that inhibit
urease activity and thereby retard urea hydrolysis when
applied to soil together with urea fertilizer. The approach
has received considerable attention during the past 20 years,
and numerous compounds have been patented or proposed
as inhibitors of urea hydrolysis in soil. Most are not very
effective, however, for inhibition of soil urease activity. The
only promising compounds are phosphoroamides such as
N-(n-butyl) thiophosphoric triamide (NBPT), phenyl-
phosphorodamidate (PPD), and thiophosphoryl triamide
0. Recent work (Bremner & Chai, 1986; 1989) has
shown that NBPT is much superior to PPD for retarding
urea hydrolysis and decreasing ammonia volatilization and
nitrite accumulation in soils treated with urea. It has also
shown differences in the modes of action of PPD, NBPT
and TPT. PPD is a potent inhibitor of jackbean urease
activity but decomposes quite rapidly in soil to form phenol,
which is a poor inhibitor of urease activity. Both NBPT
and T P T have little, if any, effect on jackbean urease activity
but decompose quite rapidly in soil with formation of com- BREMNER,
pounds that are potent inhibitors of urease activity [N-(n-
butyl) phosphoric triamide and phosphoryl triamide, BREMNER,
respectively] (McCarty & Bremner, 1989; McCarty
et al., 1989).
PHYTOTOXICITY O F UREA
FERTILIZERS
Studies to account for the adverse effects of urea fertilizers
on seed germination, seedling growth, and early plant
growth have given divergent results and several explanations
have been advanced for each effect.
Recent work (Bremner & Krogmeier, 1989) leaves little
doubt that the adverse effect of urea fertilizers on seed
germination in soil is related (1) to ammonia formed
through hydrolysis of urea by soil urease rather than to
urea itself, (2) to urea fertilizer imuurities such as biuret,
or, (3) to nitrite formed by nitrifickon of urea nitrogen:
71
Support for these conclusions was obtained from (1) com-
parison of the effects on seed germination of purified urea,
urea fertilizers, urea fertilizer impurities, and compounds
formed by enzymatic and microbial transformations of urea
in soil, (2) studies showing that ammonia volatilized from
soils treated with urea completely inhibits germination of
seeds close to, but not in contact with the soils, and (3)
experiments showing that the adverse effect of urea fer-
tilizer on seed germination in soil is completely eliminated
if the soil is autoclaved to destroy urease or is treated with
PPD to inhibit soil urease activity before adding urea fer-
tilizer. There seems little doubt that the adverse effect of
urea fertilizer on seedling growth is also caused by ammonia
formed through hydrolysis of urea by soil urease, because
this effect can also be eliminated by treating the urea fer-
tilizer with a small amount of PPD (Bremner & Krogmeier,
1988).
The leaf-tip necrosis often observed after foliar fertiliza-
tion of plants with urea is usually attributed to ammonia
formed through hydrolysis of urea by plant urease.
Krogmeier et al. (1989) recently studied the possibility
that this necrosis can be partly or completely eliminated
by adding PPD to the urea fertilizer. They found that,
although addition of this urease inhibitor to foliar-applied
urea increased the urea content and decreased the ammonia
content and urease activity of soybean leaves fertilized
with urea, it increased the leaf-tip necrosis observed after
fertilization. They concluded that the necrosis resulted
from accumulation of toxic amounts of urea in the soybean
leaves rather than from ammonia toxicity, because the
necrotic areas contained much more urea than did the
non-necrotic areas.
REFERENCES
H.S. 1986. Evaluation ofN-butyl phosphorothioic
J.M. & CHAI,
triamide for retardation of urea hydrolysis in soil. Communiurtions in
Soil Science and Plant Analyris 17,337-351.
J.M. & CHAI, H.S. 1989. Effects of phosphoroamides on
ammonia volatilization and nitrite accumulation in soils treated with
urea. Biology and Fertility of Soils, 8, 227-230.
BREMNER, J.M. & KROGMEIER, M.J. 1988. Elimination of the adverse
effects of urea fertilizer on seed germination, seedling growth, and
early plant growth in soil. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
of the USA. 85,4601-4604.
BHE.VNF.H,J.M.& KROC~SIEIER, M.J. 1989. Evidence that the adverse effect
of urea fertilizer on seed germination in soil is due to ammonia formed
through hydrolysis of urea by soil urease. Proceedings of the National
Academy ofSciences ofthe USA. 86,8185-8188.
KROGLIEIER. M.J., MCCARTY,G.W. & BREmER, J.M. 1989.
Phytotoxicity of foliar-applied urea. Proceedings of the National Academy
ofsciences ofthe U S A . 86, 8189-8191.
MCCARTT, G.W. & BREMNER, J.M. 1989. Formation of phosphoryl
triamide by decomposition of thiophosphoryl triamide in soil. Biology
and Fntility of Soils, 8, 290-292.
MCCARTY. G.W., BREMNER, J.M. & CHAI, H.S. 1989. Effect of N-(n-
butyl) thiophosphoric triamide on hydrolysis of urea by plant, microbial,
and soil urease. Biology and Fertility ofSoils, 8, 123-127.