Effects of Foliar Application of Urea and Urea-Formaldehyde/Triazone on Soybean and Corn Crops

Abstract

The objective of the study was to evaluate the effect of foliar application of urea and urea-formaldehyde, triazone-based fertilizers on soybean and corn crops. Four experiments were carried out, two on soybeans, one on first season corn, and the other on second season corn. The experiments were conducted using a randomized block design, with 5 treatments studied: T1—control without application of foliar nitrogen (N); T2—foliar application of conventional urea solution and three treatments with Hexion foliar fertilizers based on urea-formaldehyde and triazone (N-Hexion®), with varying levels of N and slow-release components; T3—Hexion 1; T4—Hexion 2; and T5—Hexion 3. The foliar application of conventional urea showed no statistically significant difference in relation to the control for the yield components and grain yield for the soybean crops in seasons 2018–2019 and 2019–2020. Urea-formaldehyde/triazone treatments showed a significant increase in yield for soybeans in the 2018–2019 season compared to the control and to conventional urea. Nitrogen fertilizers with high percentages of slow-release compounds promote nitrogen release more slowly, which led to no significant increase in yield for Hexion 1. No statistical differences were observed in the corn yield for the first and second crop.