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DEAR SIR
I feel it is important to raise the following questions on the purchase of protected urea products, on which I hope someone will be in a position to advise.
Are all protected urea products on the market as effective environmentally and agronomically?
Many of the products have not been tested in Ireland comprehensively, or have been tested for their agronomic impact but not on emissions lowering performance.
Should fertiliser companies be forced to state the type of inhibitor used on their protected urea products? Should they have to declare the application rate and date and even a use-by-date to guarantee efficacy?
It is my understanding that inhibitors, once applied to urea or urea and sulphur products, begin to break down. Therefore, knowing the initial application rate of inhibitor on the product is important to ensure there is enough active inhibitor present to be effective when field applied.
Irish regulations require a minimum level of 414 ppm of the inhibitor NBPT to be applied on urea. However, research carried out by Teagasc in 2013 and 2014 used a protected urea with 660ppm. Will protected urea products that meet Irish regulations, but do not meet the 660ppm level, be as effective? It is a complicated topic.
I’m sure many would appreciate the extra guidance and clarification.
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