Agriculture left|thumb|A plant in Bangladesh that produces urea fertilizer. More than 90% of world industrial production of urea is destined for use as a nitrogen-release fertilizer. Urea has the highest nitrogen content of all solid nitrogenous fertilizers in common use. Therefore, it has a low transportation cost per unit of nitrogen nutrient. The most common impurity of synthetic urea is biuret, which impairs plant growth. Urea breaks down in the soil to give ammonium ions (). The ammonium is taken up by the plant through its roots. In some soils, the ammonium is oxidized by bacteria to give nitrate (), which is also a nitrogen-rich plant nutrient. The loss of nitrogenous compounds to the atmosphere and runoff is wasteful and environmentally damaging so urea is sometimes modified to enhance the efficiency of its agricultural use. Techniques to make controlled-release fertilizers that slow the release of nitrogen include the encapsulation of urea in an inert sealant, and conversion of urea into derivatives such as urea-formaldehyde compounds, which degrade into ammonia at a pace matching plants' nutritional requirements.
Agriculture left|thumb|A plant in Bangladesh that produces urea fertilizer. More than 90% of world industrial production of urea is destined for use as a nitrogen-release fertilizer. Urea has the highest nitrogen content of all solid nitrogenous fertilizers in common use. Therefore it has a low transportation cost per unit of nitrogen nutrient. The most common impurity of synthetic urea is biuret, which impairs plant growth. Urea breaks down in the soil to give ammonium ions (). The ammonium is taken up by the plant through its roots. In some soils, the ammonium is oxidized by bacteria to give nitrate (), which is also a nitrogen-rich plant nutrient The loss of nitrogenous compounds to the atmosphere and runoff is wasteful and environmentally damaging so urea is sometimes modified to enhance the efficiency of its agricultural use. Techniques to make controlled-release fertilizers that slow the release of nitrogen include the encapsulation of urea in an inert sealant and conversion of urea into derivatives such as urea-formaldehyde compounds, which degrade into ammonia at a pace matching plants' nutritional requireme,nts