Eco-friendly cellulose hydrogels as controlled release fertilizer for enhanced growth and yield of upland rice.

The effect of urea-loaded cellulose hydrogel, a controlled-release fertilizer (CRF) on growth and yield of upland rice were investigated in upland rice. As with the initial research, nitrogen (N) treatments were applied as CRF treatments; T2H (30 kg N ha), T3H (60 kg N ha), T4H (90 kg N ha), T5H (120 kg N ha) and recommended dose of fertilizer (RDF) at 120 kg N ha RDF (T6U) in split application and T1 (0 N) as control. Results from this study indicated that applying CRF at the optimum N rate, T4H resulted in maximum grain yield, increasing by 71%.