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ORIGINAL RESEARCH
Improving Maize Physiological Attributes
by Regulating Urease Activity and Zinc
Availability in Rhizosphere Through Bioactivated
Zinc-Coated Urea (Engro Zabardast Urea)
1
Engro fertilizers Limited, 7th & 8th floor, the Harbor Front Building, HC-3 Marine Drive Block-4,
Clifton Karachi-75600, Pakistan
2
Institute of Soil Chemistry and Environmental Sciences, Ayub Agriculture Research Institute,
Faisalabad, 38000, Pakistan
3
Department of Soil Science, The Islamia University of Bahawalpur-63100, Pakistan
4
Soil and Environmental Sciences Division, Nuclear Institute of Agriculture and Biology (NIAB), Faisalabad, Pakistan
5
Provincial Reference Fertilizer Testing Laboratory, Raiwind, Lahore 55150, Pakistan
6
Institute of Soil & Environmental Sciences, University of Agriculture Faisalabad-38040, Pakistan
7
Department of Agronomy, Faculty of Agriculture and Environment, The Islamia University of Bahawalpur,
Bahawalpur 63100, Pakistan
8
Department of Botany and Microbiology, College of Science, King Saud University,
P.O. 2455, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia
9
Department of Environmental Sciences, Shaheed Benazir Bhutto University Sheringal,
Dir (U), Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 18000, Pakistan
10
School of Biological Sciences, The University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, Perth, WA 6009, Australia
Submission date: 2024-01-17
Final revision date: 2024-03-04
Acceptance date: 2024-04-30
Online publication date: 2024-12-11
Publication date: 2025-01-28
Corresponding author
Qudsia Nazir
Institute of Soil Chemistry and Environmental Sciences, Ayub Agriculture Research Institute, Faisalabad, 38000, Pakistan
Institute of Soil Chemistry and Environmental Sciences, Ayub Agriculture Research Institute, Faisalabad, 38000, Pakistan
Rashid Iqbal
Department of Agronomy, Faculty of Agriculture and Environment, The Islamia University of Bahawalpur, Bahawalpur 63100, Pakistan
Department of Agronomy, Faculty of Agriculture and Environment, The Islamia University of Bahawalpur, Bahawalpur 63100, Pakistan
Allah Ditta
Department of Environmental Sciences, Shaheed Benazir Bhutto University Sheringal, Dir (U), Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 18000, Pakistan, Pakistan
Department of Environmental Sciences, Shaheed Benazir Bhutto University Sheringal, Dir (U), Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 18000, Pakistan, Pakistan
Pol. J. Environ. Stud. 2025;34(3):2687-2695
KEYWORDS
TOPICS
ABSTRACT
The major cause of reduced Zn availability to plants in Pakistan is unfavorable soil factors (alkaline
pH and calcareousness). Different strategies can be adopted, to enhance the Zn bioavailability in the
rhizosphere and cereals. Among all strategies, a novel technique is the coating of Zn on macronutrient
fertilizers like urea. By adopting this technique, dual benefits can be achieved for example Zn
and N become available to plants and on the other hand, the loss of urea can be minimized. Firstly,
Engro Zabardast Urea was taken from Engro Fertilizers Pvt. Ltd and evaluated for coating effect on urease activity and Zinc release pattern with time (up to 70 days). Then 100%, 90%, 85%, and 80%
recommended EZU (Engro Zabardast Urea) were tested to find out the increase in urea efficiency
by coating. From the results of the release experiment, it was concluded that EZU @ 90% of the
recommended dose showed maximum results of Zn release respective to time and vice versa for
urease activity. Secondly, a pot experiment was conducted to evaluate the above-mentioned prepared
products on agronomic parameters and Zn and nitrogen concentration in 45 days of maize seedlings.
Zn concentration in maize seedlings increased with the application of 90 and 85% of the recommended
EZU, respectively. Similar results were found under field conditions with the application of 90% of
recommended EZU growth, physiological parameters, and grains and stover yield were improved and
Zn contents in grains were enhanced. From the results of all experiments, it can be concluded that EZU
is a fantastic product not only to increase Zn bioavailability/fortification but also to reduce nitrogen
losses. This product has the potential to reduce the use of plain urea by up to 10%. This ecofriendly
approach cannot only reduce extra labor costs but also the ignorance of Zn application by the farming
community can also be addressed.
CONFLICT OF INTEREST
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
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