Objective  The loss control urea (LCU) that, when dissolved in water, couples in a network structure to mitigate ammonia volatilization and N leaching in rice field fertilization was studied for its practical applications.

  Method  A plot experiment in the field was conducted with varied applications of LCU to determine the resulting rice yield and N utilization efficiency (NUE) as well as the N loss through leaching. In addition to control without N fertilization (CK), the treatments included applications of the conventional urea (CU), recommended LCU usage, 10% reduced LCU usage, 20% reduced LCU usage, LCU/CU at 7 ﹕ 3 ratio, LCU/CU at 5 ﹕ 5 ratio, LCU/CU at 3 ﹕ 7 ratio, and LCU by basal application.

  Result  (1) All LCU applications improved the rice yield over CK. The largest increase of 8.92% over CU was resulted from the mixture of LCU/CU at 5 ﹕ 5 ratio. LCU/CU at 7 ﹕ 3 mixing ratio produced the second highest yield gain. The gains on rice yield was mainly attributed by the increase of the grain count per panicle. (2) LCU significantly improved NUE of the rice plants. By reducing 10% on the LCU usage, the highest NUE with an increase of 9.79 over CU was observed among all applications. That was followed by the second highest delivered by LCU/CU at 5 ﹕ 5 ratio. (3) LCU significantly reduced the total N concentration in surface water and N loss from leaching. In comparison to CU, depending upon the application rate, LCU reduced 28.40%–66.32% of the N loss from leaching in an entire rice growth period. By reducing 20% on the LCU usage, the highest N loss from leaching reduction was observed, followed by 10% reduced LCU usage, and then the CU treatment.

  Conclusion  LCU significantly improved the yield and NUE of rice plants and reduced the N loss from leaching in soil. The application of LCU at 243–270 kg ·hm⁻² N with a 5 ﹕ 5 mixing ratio with CU was recommended for the rice farming in the Yellow River irrigation region.