The production cost of controlled-release fertilizers is an important factoring limiting their applications. To reduce the coating cost of diammonium phosphate (DAP) and improve its nutrition release characteristics, the fertilizer cores were modified by water polishing with three dosages at 1, 2, and 3%. The effects of modification were evaluated in terms of particle hardness, size distribution, angle of repose and specific surface area. Castor oil-based polyurethane was used as coating material for fertilizer performance evaluation. A pot experiment was conducted to verify the fertilizer efficiency of coated diammonium phosphate (CDAP) with maize. The results showed that polishing with 2% water reduced the angle of repose by 2.48-10.57% and specific surface area by 5.70-48.76%, making it more suitable for coating. The nutrient release period of CDAP was significantly prolonged by 5.36 times. Soil available phosphorous, enzyme activities, maize grain yield, and phosphorous use efficiency were all improved through the blending application of coated and normal phosphate fertilizer. This study demonstrated that water-based surface modification is a low-cost and effective method for improvement and promotion of controlled release P fertilizers. Phosphorus (P) is an essential nutrient for maintaining healthy crop growth, reproduction and yield 1-3 . However, farmers tend to apply excessive amount of P fertilizers in order to obtain high yields 4 , resulting in degradation of microbial community activity and soil tilth 5 , decrease in crop quality 6 , and varying forms of water pollution 7 . Meanwhile, P fertilizers are mainly derived from P rock, a non-renewable resource. With the increasing use of P fertilizer, the global P reserve is facing serious concerns 8 . Innovative technologies for improving the utilization efficiency and reducing the production cost of P fertilizers are urgently needed.Controlled-release fertilizers have been proved to improve the utilization efficiency of both nitrogen (N) and P fertilizer 9,10 . While much research has been conducted on controlled-release N fertilizers 11,12 , relatively much less work has focused on controlled-release P fertilizers. Chemically bound P in soil could become available to plant under certain biogeochemical conditions, serving as a natural reservoir of "slow-release" P 13 . However, the slow release characteristics of soil bound P are affected by many uncontrollable factors, such as temperature, humidity, organic acid secreted by crop roots, soil pH, and soil mineral composition [14][15][16][17] . Thus, P released under these conditions cannot fulfill the crop P demand, especially during the critical growth period. Recent research indicated that the fixed rate of soil P was closely related to the concentration of P in soil solution 18 . Coated P fertilizers have advantages over conventional P fertilizers in that the polymer coating prevents direct contact between soil and fertilizer, thus the controlled release of P promotes uptake by plants and reduces P fix...