Feasibility of implementing coated urea in corn cultivation in the State of São Paulo

The fertilizer market has been undergoing intense development involving research related to new technologies. A new range of inputs, such as coated fertilizers, is available for purchase and use by producers, demonstrating the intensification and technification currently occurring in agriculture. This variety opens new avenues and management strategies for producers, but also raises the question of the viability of applying these products as a replacement for conventional inputs. Thus, urea coating is strategically recommended, potentially resulting in gains through reduced losses and because it is the most concentrated nitrogen fertilizer with the lowest cost per unit of nutrient. Using the partial budgeting methodology, this study calculates the changes in production costs and economic revenue obtained from replacing conventional urea with four coated fertilizers (UA, UB, UC, and UD) to verify the viability of this substitution in first-crop corn cultivation. Four different scenarios were simulated considering an expected productivity of 8.5 t/ha. It was found that, for the first two scenarios, coated fertilizers were not viable as a replacement for conventional urea, and for the last two, only UA fertilizer was viable as a replacement. It was also verified that there is a need for increased productivity to reach the same level as conventional urea with coated fertilizers, the point from which replacing the conventional system with coated products becomes viable.