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Aim of fertilizer application is to provide nutrients to plants and to increase or sustain optimal crop yield. Thus, increasing fertilizer use efficiency in terms of indiscriminate use of fertilizer leads to environmental hazard by polluting soil, water and air. The main environmental impacts associated with fertilizer use have been linked to nitrate leaching into ground water, emission of greenhouse gases (nitrous oxides), soils polluted with toxic heavy metals, and surface runoff of N and P nutrients causing aquatic eutrophication. Proper use of fertilizer is beneficial to both crop production and the environment, wherein scientist have tried to many ways to achieve the newly defined goal of fertilizer use by improving fertilizer nutrient use efficiency and minimizing environmental impacts. Inefficient use of fertilizer use increased the cost of cultivation and pulling down the profitability in farming and total factor productivity (TFP). The fertilizer industry faces a new challenge to improve its products by increasing the efficiency of their use, particularly of nitrogenous fertilizers and to minimize any possible adverse environmental impact. This can be done either through improvement of fertilizers already in use, or through development of new specific fertilizer types. The purpose of this is to examine the literature reports of recent research and developments in technology for fertilizer production and to improve nutrient efficiency and minimize environmental impacts.
Keywords: Environmental hazard, Fertilizer nutrient use efficiency, Total factor productivity and profitability