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© 2008 Plant Management Network. Use of Enhanced-Efficiency Fertilizers for Improved Agricultural Nutrient Management: Introduction to the Symposium Peter P. Motavalli, Department of Soil, Environmental and Atmospheric Sciences, University of Missouri, Columbia 65211; and Kelly A. Nelson, Division of Plant Sciences, University of Missouri, Novelty 63460 Corresponding author: Peter P. Motavalli. motavallip@missouri.edu Motavalli, P. P., Goyne, K. W., and Udawatta, R. P. 2008. Use of enhanced-efficiency fertilizers for improved agricultural nutrient management: Introduction to the symposium. Online. Crop Management doi:10.1094/CM-2008-0730-01-PS. Approximately 171 million tons of plant nutrients (N + P2O5+ K2O) from fertilizers were utilized globally during 2005/2006 (1) and the rising costs and inefficient use of these fertilizer nutrients have become major agricultural and environmental issues. One group of fertilizer products that is getting some attention for their potential advantages in increasing nutrient use efficiency and reducing environmental nutrient losses is enhanced-efficiency fertilizers. These fertilizers include fertilizer products that have physical coatings or chemical compositions that provide slow and controlled release of plant nutrients, and stabilized fertilizers that are treated with urease and/or nitrification inhibitors. Use of many of these fertilizer products has been extensive in horticultural applications, but limited information is available on their use for agronomic production. Because of their characteristics, enhanced-efficiency fertilizers may minimize potential nutrient losses to the environment, increase fertilizer utilization by the plant, decrease the number of fertilizer applications, provide uniform plant growth, and improve plant performance. Challenges for widespread adoption of these fertilizers for agronomic uses include their relatively higher cost compared to conventional fertilizers and lack of research-based recommendations on when they would be effective and how they should be managed under different environments and cropping systems. To review and discuss available research information on enhanced efficiency fertilizers in North America, a symposium entitled Use of Enhanced Efficiency Fertilizers for Improved Agricultural Nutrient Management was held during the 2006 American Society of Agronomy Meetings in Indianapolis, Indiana. A wide-range of topics was discussed during the symposium including the nature and properties of enhanced efficiency fertilizers, their use for different cropping systems and environmental conditions, their potential environmental impacts, and their possible economic benefit. The aim of the symposium was to review both past and present research and to identify any areas of research related to enhanced-efficiency fertilizers which need to be addressed in the future. The symposium targeted enhanced-efficiency fertilizer management research in different regions and crops of North America and provided insight on the environmental benefits and challenges of enhanced-efficiency fertilizer use and management. We hope the following manuscripts, which came out of the symposium, will provide useful information and analysis for researchers, agricultural professionals and producers. Literature Cited The Symposium • Symposium Home Page • Enhanced-Efficiency Fertilizers for Use on the Canadian Prairies
• Environmental Impacts of Enhanced-Efficiency Nitrogen Fertilizers
• Agricultural Management of Enhanced-Efficiency Fertilizers in the North-Central United States
• Enhanced Efficiency Fertilizers for Improved Nutrient Management: Potato (Solanum tuberosum)
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