Colombia imports 75% of its concentrated urea fertilizers –29% from Russia, 20% from Venezuela, 14% from Trinidad and Tobago and 13% from Ukraine–, which means that 42% of this product comes from two countries currently facing an international conflict. The country needs 400,000 tons of this compound per year, since 2 million tons of fertilizers are imported, of which urea represents 40%.

Urea is a chemical produced by animals and humans, is generated in the liver and eliminated by urine and sweat. However, it is also obtained by chemical synthesis for industrial use in the production of fertilizers and cosmetics. Similarly, the production of diesel exhaust fluid, a solution used to reduce gas emissions in cars that use it as fuel, is essential.

Due to its high nitrogen content (75 to 78%), synthesized urea is the fertilizer (organic or inorganic substances that provide essential nutrients) most used in the world, as it provides between 25 and 30% of the nutrients needed for a crop, allowing plant growth and crop yield. Professor Manuel Iván Gómez, from the Faculty of Agrarian Sciences of the National University of Colombia (UNAL), explains that "fertilizers contain macro and micronutrients and urea is its largest source of nitrogen."

According to Professor Gómez, although any country in the world is able to produce urea, since its source is the atmosphere (75% nitrogen, in addition to oxygen and argon), in Colombia it is not done for two main reasons: energy and lack of technology in the industrialization process. "The challenge is not the source, but the gigatons of energy needed to produce the pressure and temperature that break down the molecules to synthesize carbon and avoid greenhouse gases," says the expert.

For him, it is necessary an important alliance between academia, state and companies – national and foreign – for the country to become a fertilizer producer and thus reduce the high dependence of globalized markets. The lack of urea production becomes a food security problem in the country, because in the context of a conflict such as that between Ukraine and Russia, this chemical compound can suffer increases that can have repercussions on production chains and affect agriculture.

Source: Agrolink