Nano urea offers hope for an agricultural revolution. But it’s too early to tell

Nano urea can reduce urea fertiliser costs by at least 80%. Photo: Syed Zakir Hossain

Dr Javed Hossain Khan, a professor of the Chemical Engineering Department at Jashore University of Science and Technology (JUST), has been conducting relentless research on 'nano urea' for the past seven years. 

Nano urea is an eco-friendly and cost-effective alternative to conventional urea fertiliser.

Dr Khan's innovation came under the spotlight after a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between NAME Lab and the US-based company Kulabio made headlines.

According to Khan, who is also the lead researcher of the Laboratory of Nano Bio and Advanced Material Engineering (NAME Lab), nano urea can reduce urea fertiliser costs by at least 80%. While traditional urea fertiliser costs around Tk42,000 per bigha of land, nano urea will cost only Tk230.

The difference is huge. Now the question is whether Bangladesh is ready to adopt this new technology.

The annual urea demand in Bangladesh is around 30 lakh tonnes, with nearly 80% of it being import-dependent. 46% of the country's total chemical fertiliser used in fiscal year 2023-24 was urea. In the 2024 fiscal year alone, the government spent Tk7,169 crore on urea imports. 

Therefore, it is clear that if an alternative to urea can be produced domestically, it would save this huge import cost. 

"We have been conducting field trials for a long time. As a result, we have optimised the use of this fertiliser. Now we can claim how it can be an alternative to urea and also increase the production rate," Dr Khan said.

He mentioned that the effectiveness of nano urea at the field level has already been tested on various crops in Sherpur of Bogura, Abdulpur of Jashore, and Gazipur in Dhaka. Farmers reported that the application of nano urea in cultivation has resulted in higher yields per bigha compared to conventional urea.

What's the secret sauce? 

"The ultimate goal is to deliver nitrate to the plants. Both urea and soil merely serve as mediums. In the traditional process, a large portion of the urea we apply to the soil gets wasted. On the other hand, with nano urea technology, we can deliver the nitrate directly to the part of the plant where it's needed. As a result, wastage is minimised and costs are reduced. That's the simple secret," Dr Khan explained.

Nano urea is applied directly by spraying it onto the leaves of plants. The particles of this fertilizer are so tiny that plants can absorb them quickly. It has an environmental impact as well. Since excess fertilizer would no longer accumulate in the soil, land pollution could be prevented. It does not have any negative impact on the quality of the soil.

Our neighbouring country India has already adopted the use of nano urea, in fact being the first country in the world to adopt this technology. It was commercially released in 2022 and fertilizer company 'Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative (IFFCO)' received a patent in 2023. The government of India is actively promoting its use.

However, it is important to note that the country has found mixed results. A recent study found that applying nano-urea according to IFFCO's recommended method resulted in a reduction in protein content of rice and wheat grains by 35% and 24%, respectively, The Hindu reported.

Dr Ahmed Khairul Hasan, professor in the department of Agronomy at Bangladesh Agricultural University (BAU), believes that it's too early to make an objective comment on whether nano urea can become an alternative for traditional urea fertilizer and bring a revolution.

"However, the Indian experience should serve only as a cautionary tale for us. But that does not mean we should turn away from this technology altogether. Rather, we should carry out more field-level trials and explore its commercial viability to see how it works out in our context," he said.

A study titled 'Application of nano-urea in conventional flood-irrigated Boro rice in Bangladesh and nitrogen losses investigation' published last year draws a hopeful picture. The research on nano urea revealed positive implications for sustainable rice production. 

According to the findings, rice plants treated with nano urea demonstrated higher yields, increased nitrogen content in both grains and straw, and significantly improved nitrogen use efficiency compared to those treated with conventional urea.

However, as the very first field trial of nano urea that has been synthesised and tried in Bangladesh, the researchers acknowledge their limitations. They believe that further research is necessary to fully confirm its long-term effects, scalability, and economic sustainability within the diversified ecosystem.

Meanwhile, Dr Khan shared that in the agreement with the US company, they agreed to merge their technologies and develop a 'nano-biofertilizer,' a product currently available in only a few markets worldwide. Once developed, the fertilizer will be launched in both the US and Bangladeshi markets.

"From our lab, we can only conduct research — it is now the responsibility of business enterprises to come forward and take this innovation to market. The government must also play a vital role in this regard by facilitating the business to support this innovation," he noted.

"It is still a technology in the research and development stage. Theoretically, it certainly holds potential. In fact, completely replacing urea should not be seen as the only measure of success. Even if it helps reduce our import dependency to some extent, that should also be considered significant," Dr Hasan said.

He suggests that instead of treating nano urea as a substitute for conventional urea, it should initially be tested as a complementary input.