Just say “no” — crops that turn down fertilizers

One of the biggest reasons farmers use fertilizers for crops is for nitrogen. Since plants need nitrogen to grow the same way we need calcium for healthy bones, there is a serious need to replenish the nitrogen that they absorb from the soil. But, therein lies the problem. Making nitrogen accessible to the plants organically is hard. Only certain bacteria and certain plants in the legume family, who nurture these bacteria symbiotically — like soybeans, lentils, clover — can create their own nitrogen.

Since the 1820’s, for all other crops, the world’s farmers have relied on synthetic fertilizers — necessary for healthy crops, but also responsible for water pollution, soil acidification, and even making plants too dependent on nitrogen.

Now imagine a world with no fertilizers. Over the last 10 years, Dr. Edward Cocking, Emeritus Professor at University of Nottingham has been working to extend the ability to ‘fix’ nitrogen — convert nitrogen from the air into a form that plants can absorb from the soil — to non-legume plants. His method is to use those same nitrogen-fixing bacteria in a symbiotic relationship at the roots of non-legumes.The researchers believe this process will “transform agriculture and reduce nitrogen pollution.” Dr. Cocking’s work is now set to scale up commercially. British company, Azotic Technologies has patented the process and is calling it N-Fix.

“This is is neither genetic modification (GM) nor bioengineering,” says Allen Sheena, marketing director of Azotic, which has an exclusive global licence for N-fix for all crop species. In Cocking’s process, gluconacetobacter diazotrophicus bacteria are introduced into the plant cells by coating the seed. As the plant grows, the bacteria take nitrogen from the air and break it down into ammonia which is then synthesized by the plant. Cocking’s breakthrough is able to provide every cell in the plant, not just roots but also leaves and stems, with the ability to fix about 50 percent of its own nitrogen needs – thus reducing dependency on nitrogen fertilisers, which are expensive both in material and economic cost. “This nitrogen fixing technology is environmentally friendly and is ubiquitous to all crops,” Allen said. They have already established proof of concept of intracellular colonisation and nitrogen fixation in a range of crops in the lab, and the first batch of field trials on grass, wheat, canola and corn are taking place in the UK and Canada. “So far the trial results are very positive,” said Allen.

Here’s looking forward to greener crops!

This piece originally appeared in Popular Science India. Reprinted with permission. Chhavi Sachdev reserves the right to be identified as its author.