Developing new agricultural products, such as new fertilizers with high use efficiency and less negative impact on the environment, is required in sustainable agriculture. In this vein, controlled-release fertilizers (CRFs) have been designed to decrease nutrient waste and increase nutrients' availability to plants. Various CRFs have been developed based on petroleum-derived polymers with many advantages over conventional fertilizers. Although, their use is limited due to their adverse effects on the soil and environment. To overcome these issues, CRFs based on biopolymers represent a new generation of fertilizers developed by encapsulating nutrients with cellulose nanofibrils (CNFs). CNFs and the hydrogels based on CNFs have great potential to be applied as CRFs matrix as they are biodegradable, minimize environmental pollution, and exhibit a great controlled-release potential and water/nutrient retention capacity. In order to gain a better understanding of the potential benefits of these new fertilizers in agricultural systems, this review summarizes the recent advances in CNFs in CRFs, the coating methods, hydrogel preparation techniques, and their impact on plant growth and soil. By examining these factors in depth, a better understanding can be gained on how these novel fertilizers can help improve agricultural productivity and sustainability.
Keywords: Biopolymers; Cellulose nanofibrils; Controlled-release fertilizers; Sustainable agriculture.
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