Use of urea coated with natural products to inhibit urea hydrolysis and nitrification in soil

Laboratory incubation experiments were conducted with uncoated urea or urea coated with dementholized oil (DMO), pitch (the mint oil discard), terpenes (the products of menthol mint oil), or dicyandiamide (DCD) to study the retardation of urea hydrolysis and nitrification in soil. Two levels (0.5 and 1 %) of coating were tested. Urea was applied at a rate of 200 mg kg⁻¹ of dry weight of soil. The urea hydrolysis and nitrification processes were inhibited by all three natural products. All the three natural products viz., DMO, terpenes, and pitch significantly retarded urease activity of soil.