Dr. Chandrika Varadachari | Caged Urea: A Smart Fertilizer That Boosts Crop Yields and Protects the Environment

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Dr. Chandrika Varadachari | Caged Urea: A Smart Fertilizer That Boosts Crop Yields and Protects the Environment

Feb 26, 2025 | biology, earth and environment

About this episode

In an era of increasing urgency to address environmental degradation, the impact of conventional agricultural practices has come under scrutiny. Synthetic nitrogen-based fertilizers, such as urea, are essential for feeding the global population, but cause significant environmental damage. Nitrogen from urea-based fertilizers often finds its way into water bodies, contributing to pollution. Meanwhile, urea can transform into nitrous oxide gases, which accelerate climate change when released into the atmosphere.

Many solutions to mitigate these effects have proven costly, ineffective, or even harmful. For example, plastic coatings used to slow the release of urea often leave microplastics in the soil. Finding a sustainable alternative that can reduce these harmful effects without compromising agricultural productivity is crucial.

To address the environmental challenges posed by conventional fertilizers, Dr. Chandrika Varadachari has developed a groundbreaking new fertilizer called ‘caged-urea’. This efficient and eco-friendly technology, produced by Agtec Innovations Inc., won the prestigious Global USDA-EPA NextGen Fertilizer Innovation Challenge, and is currently undergoing further development with support from an NSF-SBIR grant.

Caged-urea is a new molecular structure, in which urea molecules are encased within a crystalline calcium polyphosphate framework. This innovative ‘cage’ protects the urea from being transformed by microbes into nitrous oxide and other nitrogen-based pollutants. It is soluble only under the conditions typically found in plant root environments. This means that plants can access fertilizer as needed, reducing the risk of nitrogen polluting the environment.

Unlike plastic-coated fertilizers, caged-urea uses only non-toxic, plant-friendly materials, ensuring the product degrades without leaving any harmful residues.

Dr. Varadachari’s technology shows impressive results. The use of caged-urea reduces the amount of soil and water pollution by about 50% compared to conventional urea fertilizers. It also decreases nitrous oxide emissions by more than 60%.

Furthermore, field trials showed that caged-urea improves crop yields by up to 20% and achieves these results at significantly lower application rates. This advantage translates to lower costs for farmers, more food produced per farm, and a greatly reduced environmental footprint.

The caged-urea project is an inspiring example of science meeting sustainability in agriculture. As the research continues, Dr. Varadachari’s work is paving the way for the next generation of fertilizers that benefit the planet, while ensuring our food security into the future.