Bangladesh to dramatically expand technology that doubles efficiency of urea fertilizer use

Malawi's much discussed super harvests, which turned the country from a food aid dependent begging bowl into a major food exporter, were the result of a simple, coordinated government intervention: the subsidization of fertilizers for small farmers. This example is important to the bioenergy community because it proves food insecure countries with a large agricultural potential can turn their fate around with modest means and simply by improving access to the most basic modern farm inputs. If all developing countries with a large biofuel potential were to introduce similar measures - and the FAO recently called for such interventions - then the huge global bioenergy potential could begin to be tapped in a safe manner without provoking a food versus fuel debate.

Countries and regions that have already undergone the Green Revolution can still boost farm outputs simply by targetting fertilizer inputs better. Interesting recent results from precision farming trials in Punjab, India, showed rice yields can be increased consistently and fertilizer use reduced (previous post).

Now the Government of Bangladesh announces that it will expand a similar technology, known as 'urea deep placement' (UDP) - a successful technique that doubles the efficiency of urea fertilizer use - to almost 1 million hectares of rice land, reaching about 1.6 million farm families, in the coming 'boro' or dry season. Bangladesh's successful trials with the technique are now being replicated elsewhere in South Asia and in Africa.

UDP is the insertion of large urea briquettes into the rice root zone after transplanting. UDP cuts nitrogen losses significantly. Farmers who use UDP can increase yields by 25% while using less than 50% as much urea as before.

The effectiveness of UDP technology in Bangladesh was proven through research funded by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD, also active in promoting bioenergy in the South) and implemented with the assistance of IFDC - an International Center for Soil Fertility and Agricultural Development. The Ministry of Agriculture of Bangladesh has requested that IFDC help implement the expanded project.

Millions of rice farmers in Asia depend on urea fertilizer to meet the nitrogen needs of high-yielding rice varieties, says Dr. Amit Roy, IFDC CEO. Most farmers, including those in Bangladesh, Vietnam, and Cambodia, broadcast urea into the floodwater.

But broadcasting is a highly inefficient application method because most of the nitrogen is lost to the air and water. Only one bag of urea in three is used by the plants. Using UDP, Bangladesh's dry season rice production is expected to increase by 548,000 tons, according to the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE).

Yields were comparatively good where urea was deep placed. If we can save at least 20% of the urea by adopting UDP technology, we can supply a large part of the country's demand from our own factories. - Dr. C.S. Karim, Advisor, Bangladesh Ministry of Agriculture

UDP technology improves nitrogen use efficiency by keeping most of the urea nitrogen in the soil close to the rice roots and out of the floodwater, where it is more susceptible to loss as gaseous compounds or runoff:
energy :: sustainability :: biomass :: bioenergy :: biofuels :: food :: rice :: fertilizer :: agronomy :: efficiency :: Bangladesh ::

The technology not only improves farmer income, but creates employment because of the need for the briquettes. Ten Bangladeshi manufacturers have produced and sold more than 2,000 briquette-making machines. The new UDP program will include the manufacture and establishment of some 300 briquetting machines to manufacture 2.7-gram briquettes.

UDP technology was introduced in Bangladesh in the late 1990s; by 2006 more than half a million farmers had adopted UDP. Average paddy yields had increased 20% to 25%, and income from paddy sales increased by 10%, while urea expenditures decreased 32%. Farmers who use UDP can reduce urea use by 78 to 150 kg/ha and increase paddy yields by 900 to 1,100 kg/ha. The net return to farmers of using UDP versus broadcasting urea averages $188/ha.

Bangladesh's success with UDP has become a model for other rice-growing countries, Roy says. IFDC has also introduced UDP in Cambodia, Vietnam, Nepal, Nigeria, Mali, Togo, and Malawi.

Improved rice production implies a greater availability of the already abundant rice by-products such as hulls and straw. These biomass streams can be utilized as feedstock in biomass power plants, some of which are being improved to burn this dedicated resource in a highly efficient manner (see the Fraunhofer Institute's work on dedicated fluidized bed combustion systems). The straw would also be an abundant feedstock for next generation cellulosic ethanol and synthetic biofuels.

Image: A vendor selling urea briquettes in Bangladesh. Credit: IFDC

References:
Eurekalert: Bangladesh to dramatically expand technology that doubles efficiency of urea fertilizer use - December 18, 200

Biopact: Malawi's super harvest proves biofuel critics wrong - or, how to beat hunger and produce more oil than OPEC - December 04, 2007

Biopact: Site-specific nutrient management sees increases in rice yields - December 11, 2007

Biopact: Unlocking the vast energy potential of rice husks - August 15, 2006