Urea 46: a nitrogen fertiliser used worldwide

Urea 46 is the most used nitrogen-based fertiliser worldwide in terms of tonnes due to its high nitrogen content. Industrially synthesised from ammonia and carbon dioxide, the finished product in the form of granulated or prilled urea contains the elements carbon, oxygen, hydrogen and nitrogen.

The gradual mineralisation of this product thanks to the enzymes in soil bacteria means that it is widely used as nitrogen-based fertiliser to ensure crop yield in spring. Indeed, the slow release of nitrogen in the form of ammonium provides gradual nutrition to crops.

Traditionally positioned on corn crops, the use of granulated urea has also expanded to wheat crops in recent years, even among farmers in France who generally hold strong to the use of ammonium nitrate.