Can corn yield increase with urea alone? Only balanced fertilization can unlock its yield potential

A netizen asked whether corn fields can increase yield with urea alone. Below is my reply.

In corn fields, using urea as the only fertilizer still gives a higher yield than using no fertilizer at all, but it is definitely lower than the yield from balanced fertilization. Corn is also a living organism and needs nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, as well as calcium, magnesium, iron, zinc and other macro-, secondary and trace elements working together for corn to reach its yield potential. A shortage of any fertilizer makes it impossible to achieve yield.

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If we are talking about hydroponics, if only urea is applied, this single element cannot sustain corn. At the beginning of the 20th century, plant scientists discovered through research that crop growth requires 17 essential elements to complete its life and physiological needs, and a shortage of any one of them makes life impossible.

Yet the elements contained in urea are only nitrogen, hydrogen and oxygen, and it contains no mineral elements at all. In this situation, how could corn possibly survive?

But if we are talking about field conditions, the soil will naturally contain some elements. If corn has not been planted continuously on the same land year after year, even using only nitrogen fertilizer as urea can still meet physiological needs. The elements in the soil may be insufficient, for example causing yellow leaves, leaf spots and other unhealthy symptoms, but it can still be expected to set grain. Even now, many rural areas still apply only nitrogen fertilizer during the corn big flare stage (V12) and no other fertilizers, and the corn still ends up producing ears.

So, corn topdressed with nitrogen fertilizer as urea will definitely yield more than fields with no fertilizer applied.

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However, if balanced fertilization is used, adding some phosphorus and potassium fertilizers as well as micronutrient fertilizers in addition to nitrogen fertilizer will help corn increase yield even more. For crops, the three major nutrient elements required are nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, and corn is naturally no exception. Even if the field can supply the trace elements needed, phosphorus and potassium are required in larger amounts, and if the field cannot be supplied with enough phosphorus and potassium fertilizer, yield will naturally still be affected.

Therefore, fields supplemented with phosphorus and potassium fertilizer will naturally yield more than fields topdressed only with urea.

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