Wood Ash Additive for Performance Improvement of Gelatin-Based Slow-Release Urea Fertilizer

Eefa Manzoor, Zahid Majeed (), Shamyla Nawazish, Wasim Akhtar, Sofia Baig, Ayesha Baig, Syeda Manahil Fatima Bukhari, Qaisar Mahmood, Zainub Mir and Shahida Shaheen
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Eefa Manzoor: Department of Biotechnology, The University of Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Chehla Campus, Muzaffarabad 13100, Pakistan
Zahid Majeed: Department of Biotechnology, The University of Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Chehla Campus, Muzaffarabad 13100, Pakistan
Shamyla Nawazish: Department of Environmental Sciences, COMSATS University Islamabad, Abbottabad Campus, Abbottabad 22020, Pakistan
Wasim Akhtar: Department of Botany, The University of Azad Jammu and Kashmir, King Abdullah Campus, Muzaffarabad 13100, Pakistan
Sofia Baig: Institute of Environmental Sciences and Engineering (IESE), National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST), Islamabad 44000, Pakistan
Ayesha Baig: Department of Biotechnology, COMSATS University Islamabad, Abbottabad Campus, Abbottabad 22020, Pakistan
Syeda Manahil Fatima Bukhari: Department of Biotechnology, The University of Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Chehla Campus, Muzaffarabad 13100, Pakistan
Qaisar Mahmood: Department of Environmental Sciences, COMSATS University Islamabad, Abbottabad Campus, Abbottabad 22020, Pakistan
Zainub Mir: Department of Environmental Sciences, COMSATS University Islamabad, Abbottabad Campus, Abbottabad 22020, Pakistan
Shahida Shaheen: Department of Environmental Sciences, Kohsar University, Murree 47150, Pakistan

Agriculture, 2022, vol. 12, issue 10, 1-16

Abstract: Urea is a crucial nutrient for plant growth, but because of its substantial losses due to nitrification, ammonification, and subsurface leaching, there is currently a push to reduce these losses. Urea is frequently uploaded and trapped in gelatin. In this research, the improvement of urea uploading and encapsulation efficiency is investigated using wood ash made from plant biomass ( Pinus roxburghii ). The 8 g w/v of gelatin was mixed with various concentrations of wood ash (from 4 to 16 g w/w), urea (from 4 to 24 g w/w), and glutaraldehyde (from 0.5 to 3 mL g −1 ) to prepare various formulations of slow-release fertilizer (SRF). According to this study, adding wood ash to gelatin increases its ability to upload and encapsulate urea. The urea on its surface and the metal in wood ash both considerably contribute to the compositional alterations in gelatin in SRFs, which were demonstrated by IR spectroscopy. Visualization from photographs revealed that the homogenous dispersion of wood ash improved structural compatibility. The water content of the SRF formulation showed that wood ash can reduce water absorption by changing how hydrophobic gelatin is. Wood ash improves the gelatin’s ability to reduce the rapid release of urea over time, according to testing of cumulative urea release from SRF. The optimal combinations for achieving the maximum 53.43% of urea uploading were 2.44 g of urea, 2.47 mL of glutaraldehyde, and 1.50 g of wood ash, according to the Box–Behnken model. The gelatin-based SRF that had been amended with wood ash was applied to the Mentha spicata plant, and the plant’s healthy development and higher chlorophyll content revealed its agronomic potential. This study has a significant contribution to the development of an affordable and more effective wood ash-modified gelatin-based SRF.

Keywords: Gelatin; wood ash; urea; Box–Behnken design; slow-release fertilizer; Mentha spicata (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q1 Q10 Q11 Q12 Q13 Q14 Q15 Q16 Q17 Q18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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