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The industrialized nitrification inhibitors are not suitable for compound fertilizer fabrication through high tower melt granulation process due to their poor resistance to high temperature. In this paper, a novel high temperature resistant and multifunctional nitrification inhibitor (HTRMFNI) was synthesized. The HTRMFNI is a polymer product with the complex of silicic acid and 3,4-dimethylpyrazole (DMPZ) wrapped inside the polymer and the effective content of DMPZ is 0.484 wt %. The HTRMFNI presents good nitrification inhibitory performance and rapid phosphate-solubilizing ability. The decomposition temperature of HTRMFNI is ∼212 °C, satisfying the temperature requirements for the high tower melt granulation process. The fabricated compound fertilizer presents good nitrogen immobilization performance but loses the phosphate-solubilizing ability, possibly due to the damages of carboxyl functional group on the wrapping polymer by the high melting temperature. Moreover, the addition of HTRMFNI did not affect the physicochemical properties and the overall performance of the compound fertilizer.

Agricultural waste residues (agro-waste) are the source of carbohydrates that generally go in vain or remain unused despite their interesting morphological, chemical, and mechanical properties. With rapid urbanization, there is a need to valorize this waste due to limited non-renewable resources. Utilizing agro-waste also prevents the problems like burning and inefficient disposal that otherwise lead to immense pollution worldwide. In addition, conversion of biomass to value-added products like earthen cups, weaving baskets, and bricks is equally beneficial for the rural population as it provides secondary income, creates jobs, and improves rural people's lifestyles. This review paper will discuss an overview of different applications utilizing agro-waste residues. In particular, agro-wastes used as construction material, bio-fertilizers, pulp and paper products, packaging products, tableware, heating applications, biocomposites, nano-cellulosic materials, soil stabilizers, bioplastics, fire-retardant additive, dye removal, and biofuels will be summarized. Finally, several commercially available agro-waste products will also be discussed, emphasizing the circular economy., (© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

A fast, convenient and commercially available approach for analyzing humic acid content in fertilizer using headspace gas chromatography (HS-GC) is presented in this paper. Humic acid is converted into carbon dioxide based on the oxidation of humic acid in strong acidic medium and can be measured via automatic HS-GC. Conditions for the alkaline extraction and the humic acid oxidation process are also optimized. The new technique proved to be precise (RSD ≤ 3.59%) and accurate (relative errors≤9.46% as compared with the spectrophotometric approach). The newly established technique presents a practical tool to routinely analyze humic acid content in fertilizer during the fertilizer production., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)