It is perhaps a constant surprise to farmers that headlines are lacking the news that the world’s soil is losing phosphorus.

Without phosphorus in the soil, plants cannot grow. Without it, everything dies.

Now researchers have found that on almost every continent on Earth, the soil is losing phosphorus, even in regions where phosphate fertilisers are being added.

The study was a massive undertaking to examine soil data from all over the world, and was conducted by a joint team from the University of Basel, France's ISPA, Bordeaux Sciences Agro, the UK's Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, the Kangwon National University in South Korea, and the European Commission's Joint Research Centre.

While the nature of the study means that the team can only conclude estimates, they are confident in the accuracy of their conclusions drawn from high-resolution global data on the phosphorus content of soils compared with local soil erosion rates.

Specifically, the study calculated that worldwide, farmland will experience a fall in phosphorus content of between 4–19 kg per hectare per year.

Surprisingly, half of these losses will be caused by water erosion of soil. As the Basel University press release highlights, “So far, experts have mainly reported losses due to a lack of recycling, food and feed waste, and general mismanagement of phosphorus resources.”

“It was well known that erosion played a role,” said the study’s lead author Prof. Christine Alewell. “How big this is, has never been quantified…” 

While global demand for phosphate fertilisers is stagnating in Europe, North America, and Australia, population growth in other regions is causing an overall growth in demand for phosphorus input. A situation that is growing in urgency, as a shortage of land has led to more people farming poorer quality soils. At the same time, an increase in the global standard of living has meant that more people are eating meat – placing further strain on required returns from arable land.

This has naturally impacted fertilizer markets, with the study noting that, “growing demand for phosphate fertilizer globally has caused an increase in the cost of rock phosphate from about $80 per U.S. ton in 1961 to $700 per ton in 2015 (with large year-to-year fluctuations).”

Although, perhaps more worryingly, is the impact on everyone if the long-term trend of phosphorus reduction continues.

As the report, now published in the journal Nature, states, “Soil phosphorus (P) loss from agricultural systems will limit food and feed production in the future…The world’s soils are currently being depleted in P in spite of high chemical fertilizer input. Africa (not being able to afford the high costs of chemical fertilizer) as well as South America (due to non-efficient organic P management) and Eastern Europe (for a combination of the two previous reasons) have the highest P depletion rates.”

“This is actually a paradox,” says Prof. Alewell, “since Africa has the largest geological phosphorus deposits. The phosphorus obtained there is exported and costs farmers in African countries many times what, for example, European farmers pay for it.”

With eutrophication of waterways and ‘dead zones’ in seas as a result of excessive fertilizer use, simply increasing phosphate fertilizer use is not sustainable.

Consequently, politicians working have been working with the agricultural sector to find ways to reduce the negative effects of fertilizer use while still increasing food production.

As a report by the fertiliser industry trade body, Safer Phosphates, states, “In the European Commission's Communication on the Farm to Fork Strategy, the excess of nutrients in the environment due to overuse and poor absorption by plants is highlighted as a key target, with a proposed 20% reduction on the use of fertilisers in the EU by 2030.”

Specifically stating that EU policy must include “measures to address phosphate waste”, before adding that “the development and implementation of nutrient recycling is essential”, believing that it should be a key role of governments to “support new technologies so that phosphorus can be recovered from the environment and become circular, rather than scarce.”

The good news is that reversing the trend of phosphorus depletion is possible, as the original study suggests; “… a 50% reduction in food and feed waste combined with a 50% reduction in production and consumption of animal products, will allow a 100% conversion to organic agriculture, thus fostering sustainable agriculture and minimizing agricultural production related problems such as greenhouse gas production, biodiversity loss, eutrophication of waters and eco-toxicological related issues. However, the switch to 100% organic production globally would only be possible if rock phosphate was used as a mineral P-fertilizer in organic agriculture with a similar magnitude as it is used today in conventional agriculture.”

Solutions are therefore available. Solutions that must be acted upon. For it is a problem that needs to be solved.

As Prof. Alewell, makes perfectly clear, “95 percent of our food is produced directly or indirectly through plant growth on the soil. The gradual loss of the plant nutrient phosphorus therefore affects all people and societies.”

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When looking to track the economic ups and downs of fertilizer markets and the supply and demand for agricultural raw materials, it is always worth checking what the biggest producers are doing.

One of the largest producers of fertilizer and farm input products in the world is PhosAgro.

Founded in 2003, today the company has more than $5 billion worth of assets and last year had a turnover of more than $4 billion.

However, that was during the carefree days of 2019. So, how is the company coping now, and how does this reflect on the wider fertilizer market?

Q3 Sales are Up

The latest figures released by the company are promising. Despite the turbulence in the global economy caused by the coronavirus pandemic, PhosAgro’s third quarter results showed that, “fertilizer sales increased by 10% y/y in 9M20 to 7.9 million t. Total fertilizer production increased by almost 5% y/y in 9M20, reaching 7.5 million t.”

While the market for feed phosphorus remains buoyant, it is phosphorus fertilizer that is the company’s core, and it is here where business is booming.

As PhosAgro CEO, Andrey Guryev, explains, “The growth in production efficiency, favorable pricing environment, and flexible sales system allowed our company to sell 6.1 million tons of phosphorus fertilizers in the first nine months period of this year, which is 11% more than last year.”

The Russian Fertilizer Market

When acknowledging this growth, however, it is worth noting that so much of PhosAgro’s business is based in Russia.

Guryev himself, has outlined the symbiosis between his company and the Russian fertilizer market, stating, “The Russian market is an invariable priority for us. One of the reasons is that innovative brands of mineral fertilizers are highly demanded there. As of today, PhosAgro’s portfolio includes more than 50 brands, 19 of which are complex fertilizers unique for Russia with microelements in one granule.”

The conditions in Russia over the last 18 months, have therefore provided a good sales opportunity for PhosAgro products.

As the industry journal Fertilizer Daily, highlights, “The growth in demand for phosphorus fertilizers is mainly driven by their high efficiency and improved quality as well as by the drought in large agricultural regions. The prolonged heatwave led to a moisture deficit and record growth in demand for liquid complex fertilizers.”

Fertilizer Exports

Beyond domestic markets, the company’s progress has been less than remarkable, although at least stable.

While sales volumes of nitrogen fertilizers have remained consistent, economically there have been some dramatic drops in demand for farm input products.

As the Federal State Statistics Service reports, “In monetary terms, sales of nitrogen fertilizers to the world market decreased by 12.5% to $1.4 billion, potassium fertilizers by 16.7% to $1 billion, and the export of complex fertilizers fell by 21% to $1.5 billion and ammonia by 32.3% to $702 million.”

While coronavirus restrictions in China and India inhibited fertilizer production in those countries (aiding price hikes), prices suffered largely due to a significant fall in demand for phosphate-based fertilizers in the US, where from Jan to Sept 2020 sales were almost half of those from the same period in 2019.

“This was due to an unfavourable pricing environment in the US market at the beginning of the year and the Mosaic petition filed against suppliers of phosphate-based fertilizers from Morocco and Russia,” reports the industry journal World Fertilizer.

However, the situation was recovered as, “PhosAgro's flexible sales and distribution network enabled it to redirect fertilizer supplies to other markets, including Canada and India, without losses.”

Fertilizer Producer Changes

But beyond adapting to market fluctuations and pricing challenges, PhosAgro is switching to a more sustainable production approach.

“[Morgan Stanley Capital Investment] MSCI ESG research assigns an MSCI ESG rating by assessing companies’ inherent environmental, social responsibility and governance (ESG) risks, and their ability to manage those risks relative to competitors. PhosAgro's achievements in this area earned us a rating upgrade from BB to BBB in 3Q20. This rating is one of the highest assigned to Russia's largest companies,” explains Guryev. “In addition, PhosAgro recently won a prestigious nationwide competition in the field of sustainable development – Russian Business Leaders: Dynamics and Responsibility 2019, held by the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs. The company won the Grand Prix for the second time, making PhosAgro the only winner of the highest award in the entire 23-year history of the competition.”

Going Green to Meet Global Food Demand

But beyond just having a greener approach to production, PhosAgro is aware of its role in helping to feed the planet’s growing population, often in areas where arable land is poor or badly irrigated.

At a recent forum on Food Security and Sustainability in BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa), PhosAgro Marketing and Development Director Mikhail Sterkin, outlined co-operations that will help create more stable food markets in an environmentally-friendly fashion.

“42% of the world population live in the BRICS countries, while only 27% of the cultivated lands are located there,” Sterkin notes. “According to the demographic forecast, the population of the BRICS countries will annually increase by 7-10% until 2050. However, the size of the agricultural lands remains the same. In such conditions, we need to find a joint solution for sustainable development and food security without compromising food quality. Biotechnology is one of the ways to meet future challenges and develop agribusiness.”

“That is the reason why PhosAgro is creating special biological and biomineral fertilizers,” adds Dmitry Demidov, the Technical Director at the Apatit Innovation Center (a subsidiary of PhosAgro). “Environmental sustainability means soil health, biodiversity, safety for people, animals and the ecosystem as a whole.”

These are uncertain times. But while economies continue to suffer from the coronavirus pandemic, it is good to see that progress is still being made in some sectors.

Farming is perhaps the most important of all industries and is far to often overlooked. During this period of unusual circumstances, when people are reflecting on what is important in life, it is comforting to see that the simplest, yet most vital things, such as having food on the table, are still being taken care of.

Furthermore, it is good to read that this sector of our lives, is not only expanding and growing in stature, but also looking to innovation and sustainability, helping to solve the next global crisis: climate change.  

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To the untrained eye all nanofertilizers may look the same.

This makes sense, a fertilizer that measures less than 100 nanometres wide (1,000 times thinner than a human hair) is invisible to the naked eye. So rather than looking the same, a nanoparticle for crop nutrition is invisible from a human perspective.

But to the informed fertilizer supplier, nanofertilizers are definitely not the same.

In general, there are three main types of nanofertilizers:

·       Nanoscale coating fertilizers are bulk fertilizers that have been given a coating of nanoparticles to aid delivery, delay release, slow down release, or to add an additional nutrient at a nanoscale.

·       Nanofertilizers are nanoparticles of nutrients that are applied directly onto plants or into the soil. Each particle measures less than 100 nm in size, which makes it easier for crop uptake.

·       Nanoscale additives are traditional, bulk fertilizers that have had nanoparticles of nutrients added to them.

Nanoscale nutrients are top-down produced by physically making macroscale nutrients smaller; or bottom-up produced by chemically manufacturing nanosized particles.

A further development of nanofertilizers involves the encapsulation of nanoparticles inside nanoporous materials. This method has been found to significantly reduce nitrogen loss by regulating nutrient release, which in turn further enhances plant uptake.

Porous nanomaterials include:

1.       Ammonium charged zeolites, which boost the solubility of phosphate minerals and therefore availability to crops.

2.       Graphene oxide films, a carbon-based nanomaterial often used for the slow release of potassium nitrate.

3.       Nanocalcite (CaCO3-40%) with nano SiO2 (4%), Fe2O3 (1%), and MgO (1%). A combination such as this improves plant absorption of calcium, magnesium, and iron, as well as boosting phosphorous uptake with micronutrients zinc and manganese.

These nanoporous materials can also contain soil and plant friendly microorganisms (biofertilizers).

Whatever form of nanofertilizer is used, they each possess advantages over conventional fertilizers, both economically and environmentally.

Conventional fertilizer production is a major emitter of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Additionally, bulk fertilizer uptake into plants can be incredibly inefficient. A 2019 study reporting that, “… nitrogenous fertilizers have efficiency of only 45–50%, while the corresponding figure for phosphorous fertilizers has been reported to be only 10–25%.”

Nutrients that are not absorbed by plants can remain in soils, making them toxic to soil friendly bacteria, or are washed out into streams and rivers causing eutrophication that kills wildlife. Additionally, ammonia from fertilizer can pass off as vapour from the soil into the atmosphere.

Alternatively, nanofertilizers are crop nutrition products that have been proven to increase plant health and crop yields.

Data sourced from a variety of studies (Zheng et al, Mandeh et al, Manikandan et al, Zhang et al, Zhao et al, Zebarth et al, Rathnayaka et al, Yang et al, & Kim et al has found that the application of nanofertilizer enhances seed germination rate and seedling growth, as well as boosting photosynthetic activity.

Other studies have found that nutrients supplied in a nanoparticle form can suppress disease and aid plant defence pathways, such as combating phytopathogens through the production of reactive oxygen species.

Ultimately, as the nanotechnology journal AzoNano explains, “Nanomaterials improve the productivity of crops and efficiently regulate the delivery of nutrients to plants and targeted sites, guaranteeing the minimal usage of agrochemicals.”

But crucially for farmers, “Nanomaterials can increase crop yield by increasing fertilizer nutrient availability in soil and nutrient uptake by plants.”

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When many farmers think of sustainable crop nutrition, they think of organic fertilizers, they think ‘bio’, they think manure. But modern farming has come a long way since the need to buy a horse and a shovel.

As a recent report in the technology journal AzoNano, notes, “Sustainable agriculture demands minimal use of agrochemicals. Advanced nanoengineering techniques are being used to overcome an agricultural crisis by developing an improved crop production system that assures sustainability.”

Specifically observing that, “Nanomaterials improve the productivity of crops and efficiently regulate the delivery of nutrients to plants and targeted sites, guaranteeing the minimal usage of agrochemicals.”

On an environmental level, therefore, nanofertilizers have advantages over conventional fertilizers in three main ways.

1.       They are more efficient at using the planet’s mineral resources.

2.       They minimize the amount of fertilizer that is not taken up by the plant, thereby limiting atmospheric emissions that pollute the air as well as reducing run off and leaching that pollutes seas and waterways.

3.       The smaller volume of nanofertilizers required for each acre of crops reduces the energy required for production. Whereas a 2018 report by the International Fertilizer Association, states that current production of bulk fertilizers, “… are estimated to represent about 1.5 % of global GHG (greenhouse gas) emissions…”, nanofertilizers’ smaller volume produces less emissions from production. Less fertilizer bulk/weight per acre also minimises the energy required for transportation and application.

The increased efficiency of nanofertilizer use was highlighted in a recent study called ‘Nano-Fertilizers for Sustainable Crop Production under Changing Climate: A Global Perspective’.

Notably, this research consolidated previous nanofertilizer studies and compared that work with data on conventional fertilizers, finding that:

·       Nanofertilizers allow for controlled release of nutrients and can be created to gradually feed crops over a required time frame. For example, polymer coated nanofertilizers ‘avoid premature contact with soil and water owing to thin coating encapsulation of nanoparticles.’

·       Nanofertilizers are more soluble and diffuse more easily than their larger bulk counterparts.

·       The smaller size of nanofertilizer mineral particles allows for more efficient absorption by plants. Specifically, nanoparticles are able to pass through the nano sized pores on leaves, as well as through molecular transporters in plants. Their small size also allows them freer movement in the root exudate, in ion channels, and even through plasmodesmata.

Ultimately, the study concluded that, “modern profit-oriented farming systems encompassing nitrogenous fertilizers have efficiency of only 45–50%, while the corresponding figure for phosphorous fertilizers has been reported to be only 10–25%.”

Conversely, “Nanofertilizers applied alone and in conjunction with organic materials have the potential to reduce environmental pollution owing to significantly less losses and a higher absorption rate. In addition, nanomaterials were recorded to improve germination rate, plant height, root development and number of roots, leaf chlorophyll and fruits antioxidant contents.”

Evidence of the success of nanofertilizers can be seen across a wide spread of research into productivity, as the table here shows.

While this data lays clear that nanofertilizers can improve crop yields in a variety of ways with a wide range of plants, there are still some notable drawbacks that the nanofertilizer industry needs to tackle.

For example, the ready availability of nanofertilizers in the marketplace is still relatively limited. Conventional fertilizers dominate sales for both industrial and retail use, and while the sales gap is closing, nanofertilizer suppliers need to find a way to make their products a mainstream crop nutrition choice. To help resolve this, production capacity for nanofertilizers needs to increase if wide scale adoption is to seriously compete with traditional crop nutrition methods. The nanofertilizer market needs the economies of scale currently enjoyed by the conventional fertilizer sector.

Additionally, compared to the centuries-old knowledge of bulk fertilizers, our understanding of nanofertilizers is still growing. As a result, legislation and associated risk management are still being developed.

This lack of legislation has led to numerous products being promoted as nano which are in fact submicron and micron in size. Similarly, an absence of recognized formulation and standardization of product has led to inconsistencies across the market, not least in establishing that each nanofertilizer product contains particles of uniform size.

While the disadvantages of the nanofertilizer industry and its products are laid clear, so too is the economic and environmental evidence for their application.

Given the balance of this data, it is surprising that nanofertilizer use is not more widespread.

But ultimately and perhaps most simply put, nanofertilizers offer the agricultural industry a direct route to solving its two greatest challenges: feeding a growing population while at the same time developing sustainable, carbon-neutral farming.

That is why crop nutrition needs to be so small.

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Billed as the largest clean technology incubator in America, Greentown Labs in Massachusetts has placed itself at the heart of next generation eco-production.

It is a hub of research and investment, where ecology-minded entrepreneurs can develop their products, attract funding, and bring their products to market, at the same time as solving some of the planet’s biggest environmental issues.

Central to this role is the development, production, and marketing of biofertilizers.

Biofertilizers are a possible solution to one of the century’s biggest climate change challenges.

According to a 2018 report (pdf) by the International Fertilizer Association, current production of bulk fertilizers, typically nitrogen, phosphate, or potassium, “… are estimated to represent about 1.5 % of global GHG (greenhouse gas) emissions…” However, the report also acknowledges mankind’s dependency on fertilizers, stating that the amount of GHG emitted is, “… rather low considering that global agricultural output would be reduced by 50% without the use of mineral fertilizers.”

This situation leaves growers with a difficult choice. As a Greentown Labs press release explains, “If you’re a farmer, you have two mediocre fertilizer options. You can go with a conventional fertilizer—which is inexpensive and precise, but contaminates water and involves a production process with significant greenhouse gas emissions. Or, you can go the organic fertilizer route—which is better for the environment, but is expensive and has unpredictable yields.”

To solve this problem, a new biofertilizer has now been developed.

Like other biofertilizer it is based on the use of soil-friendly microbes which ‘fix’ the nitrogen from the air into the soil, where it is accessible to plants.

The fertilizer developers claim that the new biofertilizer, called Kula Bio, offers an equivalent yield boost per dollar as conventional fertilizers, but with minimal GHG emissions and zero eutrophication from fertilizer runoff. The biofertilizer is also suitable for a wide variety of crops.

“We have all the benefits of an organic fertilizer, with cost competitiveness to the farmer of a conventional fertilizer,” says Kula Bio Co-founder and Science Director Kelsey Sakimoto. “Our fertilizer also fits within the normal practices of conventional agriculture. In several greenhouse and outdoor farm trials, we’ve been able to replace 50 to 100 percent of conventional nitrogen fertilizer and reach the same yields as the conventional treatments.”

Like all biofertilizers, the focus is on improving soil health, with an effort made towards the long-term improvement of farm yields.  

“One of the big features of this product is that it adds a big source of carbon to the soil,” Sakimoto explains. “Every ecologist you talk to will say that is the cornerstone way to start improving soil health. If you add carbon, it adds a food source, and nothing can grow in the soil unless there’s a food source.”

The Kula Bio product is just one of many biofertilizer projects being developed at the Greentown labs centre. It is an ideal place for the creation of eco-friendly products, as it combines support for business start-ups alongside research facilities, such as a 26-bench wet lab, where teams are able to analyse their biofertilizers on a chemical and microbiological level.

From here the Kula Bio team have created a prototype, while the rest of 2020 will be spent conducting field trials with farmers in California.

The hope is to bring their biofertilizer to market in 2021, although the company, “… has also begun exploring other microbes that could help farmers in a variety of ways, including removing contaminants from soil.”

Starting a new business or bringing a new product to market is never easy. However, it is vital for the agricultural industry that entrepreneurs are given sufficient advice, access to investment funding and research space to develop the fertilizer products that will maintain adequate food production. All while reducing GHG emissions.

It is the challenge of our age, and with the support of institutions like Greentown, it is a challenge that the fertilizer industry may be able to overcome.

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We’re living in difficult times. A period of history that makes everyone focus on what is truly important.

Difficult times impact business in the same way. Tough markets (and for farmers, tough weather) focus the mind on what is really needed.

While we struggle with self-isolation and social distancing during the extremes of 2020, most farmers are still considering the impact of the extremes of 2019.

The China/U.S. trade war devastated many crop prices last year and coincided with an extremely wet spring and delayed crop planting. These factors, according to the latest CropLife survey, made 2019 a “very difficult year in terms of timely planting and harvest.”

But alongside learning of the trials and challenges that the growing industry in America faced over the past twelve months, the survey also discovered how farmers and biofertilizer suppliers were forced to streamline their resources into what was truly important.

“The real driver going into 2019 was efficiency on the farm and maximizing return on investment on all inputs,” notes Alex Duffy, National Product Manager for Timac Agro USA. “The weather of 2019 caused some tough lessons on keeping and maintaining nutrients in the root zones of the plants. Going into 2020 is different from 2019 because of the tough spring of 2019. With the low commodity prices and the weather causing nutrients to move through the soil, it is opening dealers to the idea of additives that aid in nutrient management and biofertilizers.”

But increasingly, the difficult times seem to have shown the benefits of using biofertilizers at planting.

As Duffy adds, “(Last year) also provided some really good examples in the field of how the products can help to protect the nutrients that farms have invested in and keep them available to plants despite tough environmental conditions. Additives make the most sense because farmers can still use the same cost-effective nutrients, with a simple add-on that protects and still provides an opportunity for a good return on investment in yield.”

Chandra Roberts, the Marketing Director for biofertilizer producer BRANDT, agrees that biofertilizers have come to the fore during the past year. “The biggest overall benefit of using enzyme technology is increased soil activity, early plant vigor, and increased root mass and stalk diameter.” The result is that BRANDT’s EnzUp biofertilizer for corn, cotton, and soybeans has seen, “… sales increasing 500% over the previous year.” Adding that, “… we expect to see strong continued growth in the coming years as growers see efficacy and return on investment.”

However, spreading the news of the benefits that biofertilizer can provide when applied during planting will be difficult, as the wet spring weather in America has delayed a lot of sowing. This has left many farmers playing ‘catch up’.  

This is a point highlighted by Tommy Roach, the Vice President of Specialty Products and Technical Services at the fertilizer producer Nachurs Alpine Solutions, who notes that, “As we go into 2020, getting biofertility products added to the at-planting fertility will be a challenge due to the heightened urgency to get planting completed.”

However, he has not given up on his belief that biofertilizers are a supreme method for crop nutrition throughout a plant’s life.

“The fascinating thing about Bio-K products,” he adds “is that not only is it a primary plant nutrient, potassium, but it also improves both nitrogen and phosphorus use efficiency when utilized in-furrow, foliar, sidedress, and/or fertigation applications.”

No one knows a field better than a farmer. However, it can take time for the wider farming community to find out about the boost that plants can get from more advanced fertilizers.

Biofertilizer products are still the newcomers on the crop nutrition market. It will take time before growers fully appreciate how far these fertilizers have come, what they can now achieve, and how they can improve a bottom line.

As one biofertilizer company representative specifically states, “The key trends in the industry right now include a continued and growing interest in utilizing new product technologies with natural and organic components to promote root growth, soil health, and crop production.”

Even during bad times, the market is moving away from conventional fertilizers and there is good reason for it.

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The biofertilizer sector is growing at a healthy rate, with the latest figures from Mordor Intelligence showing that, “The biofertilizers market was valued at USD 1.57 billion in 2018 and is expected to witness a CAGR of 10.1% over the forecast period (2015-2024).”

While this is largely aided by market trends among consumers and farmers towards low-impact farming and the shift towards sustainably sourced food, the sector has also been given a significant boost by the number of improved biofertilizer products entering the market in recent years.

The development of new bio-products has been made possible by increased investment into the sector as fertilizer suppliers and producers attempt to fill the growing demand. This has aided research into alternatives to conventional fertilizers.

In addition to the search for profit, the need to combat climate change while feeding a growing global population has led governments and academic bodies to focus their efforts on how to feed more people with less environmental impact.

While conventional fertilizers hold only a handful of ways to increase crop yields, the range of options for biofertilizer development are far, far more diverse. With a 2016 study finding that the Earth is, “… home to upward of 1 trillion microbial species” all of which are genetically modifiable. Consequently, it is fair to say that there is plenty more analysis to be done before the perfect biofertilizer is found.

In Europe, the EU funded Horizon 2020 project has taken a lead in fertilizer research. As the EU Commission explains, “The ultimate goal of [the fertilizer-part of the] project is to lay the firm foundations for the development of biological microbial-based fertilizers which shall allow the reduction or even suppression of chemical fertilizers (dangerous for human health and environment and contributing to the climate change) while maintaining or increasing crops production.”

Some of the Horizon 2020 funding sponsored a recent study, named the BIOFERTICELLULASER project, to take a closer look at how microbes work inside plants. As project coordinator Pedro F. Mateos, explained, “Our goal was to understand the factors that drive bacterial plant growth promotion and stress-resistance induction.”

Specifically, the analysis focused on the rape seed crop Brassica napus, with the team initially identifying bacteria that were strong enough to survive inside the plant’s root system, even when in the field. They then tested the selected bacteria in the lab to see how they promoted plant growth when applied with mechanisms such as sodium and potassium solubilisation and the production of iron-chelating compounds and plant hormones.

As the EU Commission website describes, “Scientists selected the best bacterial endophytes and analysed their genome sequence. They annotated their genomes and explored the bacterial genetic machinery that potentially interacts with the plant to promote its development. Following evaluation in the field, they selected one plant growth-promoting (PGP) bacterial strain that offered significant plant growth improvement under stress conditions as well as protection against one of the most important rapeseed fungal pathogens, Leptosphaeria maculans.”

Further analysis of this particular PGP bacterial strain led to the identification of a gene that was key to boosting plant growth and resistance to biotic and abiotic stresses. From this the researchers were able to confirm the influence this bacterium had on plant growth by deleting the gene and then assessing, “… the effect on normal and saline stress conditions, greenhouse assays and pathogen resistance.”

Work is now ongoing to identify other bacterial genes to learn more about their role and interaction with plants. This will help the researchers design better fertilizers; new biofertilizers with novel approaches to tolerating stress conditions.

Specifically, for this project the, “Researchers are currently exploring the possibilities of a material transfer agreement with biofertiliser companies or a patent application by securing additional funding.”

While there is clearly still some way to go before such cutting-edge, genetically modified biofertilizers are on the market, the investment and progress made shows that there is a way beyond conventional fertilizers. A route to crop nutrition that avoids the pitfalls of eutrophication and the consumption of limited raw materials.

With the application of nitrogen fertilizers releasing nitrogen oxide gases from the soil with a greenhouse effect 300 times higher than CO2, it is a pathway that the fertilizer industry needs to follow.

The challenge of combating climate change may seem an overwhelmingly large problem. However, some of the solution may well lie in something as incredibly small as crop-friendly bacteria. With so much to gain, such research into biofertilizers must surely continue.

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The fact that zinc plays a key role in crop health is well known. Testing has already shown the impact of zinc (Zn) in boosting germination, seedling emergence, crop establishment, individual plant growth, and most importantly, productivity.

In the lab, zinc can be seen to aid the synthesis of protein and hormones, cell elongation, and stress resistance.

Knowing this, testing soil for the presence of naturally occurring zinc is necessary for many farmers. Where zinc sources are low, the application of bulk fertilizer containing zinc is a worthwhile tool to improve crop yields and aid farm profitability.

However, the efficiency of bulk fertilizers is increasingly being questioned, with high levels of wasted raw material from run off and vaporization putting a high cost on the environment and an unwelcome cost on the farm’s bottom line.

Understanding the benefits of zinc while acknowledging the shortcomings of conventional fertilizer led a team of nanofertilizer specialists to analyse the effect of zinc nanoparticles when applied as a primer to corn seeds.

Specifically, the researchers experimented with seeds that had been, “… immersed in different solutions/suspensions containing a total volume of 200 mL with different Zn concentrations [in nanoparticle form] for 8 hours,” before drying.

Alongside a control sample of seeds, the team also compared the effect of zinc nanoparticle seed priming with the use of a zinc ionic solution, made from dissolved zinc chloride (ZnCl2), and a bulk form of zinc containing non-nanometric particles with sizes in excess of 300 nm.

The results of the experiments have now been published in the industry journal Agronomy, as ‘Initial Development of Corn Seedlings after Seed Priming with Nanoscale Synthetic Zinc Oxide’.

Here the results state, “… that corn seed priming with an aqueous suspension of ZnO NP [zinc oxide nanoparticles] for concentrations around 70 and 100 mg L−1, promoted significant gains in germination, vigor [plant and foliage growth], root length and total fresh and dry biomass production, as well as decrease in abnormal seedlings when compared to the same concentration of soluble and bulk source tested, and also to the control…”

While the study was unable to establish precisely why during the tests nanofertilizer was more effective than conventional fertilizer, they do theorise that, “The higher plant growth with NPs might be due to the mobilization of nutrients as well as increase in microbial activity in the rhizosphere.”

The maximum nanoparticle size for a zinc oxide nanofertilizer has yet to be established, but it is crucial that particle size remains small enough for the zinc oxide to be able to move across plasma membranes and pass through cell walls.

Research is still ongoing to try and understand how nanofertilizers are absorbed and the role that the soil, temperature, and conditions, as well as the type of root plays.

Earlier work has already found that when applied correctly, zinc oxide nanofertilizer is present at the root surface, as well as inside and around the root cells. Other studies have also established that nanofertilizers can also be absorbed through leaves and stems.

Ultimately, whatever the reason that zinc oxide nanoparticles work it is simply good to know that nanofertilizer seed priming boosts crop health. It is another tool in a farmer’s toolbox and a practical alternative to cumbersome, bulk fertilizers.

Like parenting, much of successful farming is about giving your little ones the best start in life. This study, alongside others, shows farmers and fertilizer producers how to provide that help. As the researchers conclude, “The [study’s] results clearly indicate that ZnO NPs are effective in enhancing seedling growth and development.”

Photo credit: Kaboompics.com from Pexels, Pixabay, & Pixabay

Much of the American agricultural industry has had a tough few years.

A robust US economy has kept the dollar strong, hurricanes, flooding, and wildfires have decimated many rural areas, while the ending of a 4-year drought on the West Coast has only brought recent relief to farmers.

Most significantly, the ongoing US/China trade war has kept tariffs in place on many American agricultural exports, such as pork meat, corn, and soy. This has resulted in a massive slump in trade, as a PBS report notes, “American agricultural exports to China fell from $15.8 billion in 2017 to $5.9 billion in 2018, according to the U.S. International Trade Administration, and exports have remained depressed in 2019.”

This has impacted farmers in every state. As the report adds, “The agriculture sector had record levels of debt in 2019 and the highest number of bankruptcies since 2011. In October, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) projected that farm debt in 2019 would be a record high $416 billion, with $257 billion in real estate debt and $159 billion in non-real estate debt. Adjusting for inflation, the value of debt increased 1.5% between 2018 and 2019.”

While government aid has helped many farmers stay solvent, most have remained in business by making cuts to expenses.

Logically, one of the first costs for farmers to reduce would be fertilizers. Yet surprisingly, one of the agricultural inputs seeing biggest growth is the micronutrient sector.

As the industry journal CropLife reports, “… according to the 2019 CropLife 100 survey, 53% of the nation’s top ag retailers saw their micronutrients revenue increased between 1% and more than 5% during the 2019 growing season. More impressively, this continued upon a long-term growth trend for micronutrients, where year-over-year sales increases have been recorded by more than 50% of CropLife 100 ag retailers for three of the past four years (51% in 2016, 55% in 2018, and 53% in 2019; the exception being in 2017, when the figure was 45%).”

Much of this expansion is based on the expanded planting of corn. As CropLife notes, “… early USDA projections show approximately 95 million acres of corn expected to go into the ground, an increase of 5 million acres from 2019.”

However, some fertilizer market analysts claim that the increased use of micronutrient fertilizers is connected to the expanding belief among farmers that the products work.

As Dale Edgington, the Procurement & Production Manager at Advanced Micronutrients Products, states, “The products are tried and true and meet the needs of most dealers and producers. Whether it is phosphate with zinc, potassium with magnesium, or boron with zinc, the soils, climate, crops, and farming practices are different from one end of North America to another.”

Certainly, CropLife readers are expecting the trend to continue, with an online survey from early March showing that 89% of voters anticipate micronutrient sales in 2020 to be greater than 2019.

Belief that is supported by further analysis predicting continued global expansion of the micronutrient sector. A recent Allied Market Research report stating that, “The global crop micronutrients market was valued at $6,077 million in 2017, and is projected to reach $11,532 million by 2025, registering a CAGR of 8.3% from 2018 to 2025.”

The report also highlighting the biggest growth in Asia-Pacific markets, with micronutrition of zinc outperforming other raw materials.

While the use of soil nutrition in microscopic form, such as boron, iron, zinc, and manganese, has been increasing steadily for many years, the continued boost to sales in the American market during such tough times is a sign of the product’s great potential.

Given that micronutrient market growth is being predicted despite a global economic downturn and with the US/China trade war yet to be concluded, evidence of increased use of micronutrients may be a sign not of a growing trend, but of a sea change in the fertilizer industry.

Photos by Tim Mossholder, Icon0, Lukas, from Pexels.

Phosphorus fertilizers have many problems.

The extraction of rock phosphate and phosphorite is unsustainable, and with sources located in remote and geopolitically sensitive regions, extraction and supply is complicated.

Processing conventional fertilizer also requires the use of mineral acids, such as sulfuric acid, is energy intensive, and generates large amounts of hazardous by-product.

These issues combine to make a fertilizer that is expensive and environmentally damaging.

Yet, phosphate fertilizers are essential for feeding mankind.  A 2017 studyfinding that as much as 60% of the planet’s arable land has reduced crop yields due to depleted phosphorus content in the soil. Often, such phosphorous deficiency occurs in some of the poorest countries in the world, where malnutrition is exacerbated by a lack of fertilizer supplies. For example, in India an estimated 49-45% of agricultural soils have low to medium phosphorus content.

One solution to this problem is the adoption of liquid biofertilizers sourced from phosphorus rich raw materials, such as bones and sewage sludge. Production of these fertilizers is cleaner and greener, using microorganisms that are naturally present in soil. One study also reported that they are highly efficient, yielding soluble phosphate content as high as 80% of raw material, which compares well with the 20-40% soluble content from extracted phosphorite.

However, sourcing phosphorus from sewage and bones can result in secondary environmental contamination. Research finding that they can contain a range unwanted and potentially toxic ingredients, such as pharmaceutical products, caffeine, synthetic phenolic compounds, siloxanes, per fluorinated compounds, and toxic hydrocarbon. Removing these contaminants to allow for use in fertilizer production is expensive, requiring chemical or membrane filtration and/or heating to extreme temperatures.

To solve all these issues, a team of researchers have employed nanotechnology and a biosynthetic approach for a novel way to make the phosphate fertilizer nanohydroxyapatite (nHAP).

The creation of nanohydroxyapatite (nHAP) is not new, with several different production processes, such as wet chemical deposition, sol-gel, hydrothermal, and biomimetic routes. However, all of these methods require the overt use of numerous chemicals to achieve controlled synthesis, with the resulting nanomaterials having a high level of toxicity.

By employing a biological approach, the new nanofertilizer process has a much lower environmental impact, and can, the study says, “… [also] control the structure, orientation and phase, nano-structural topography of inorganic crystals, called bio-mineralization.”

The method can also control the shape and size of the nanoparticles by varying factors such as temperature, pH, stirring rate, and sintering temperature during and after biosynthesis.

Specifically, this novel nanofertilizer employs bacillus licheniformis for biosynthesis of a nanostructured hydroxyapatite powder by using calcium and phosphorous precursors.

The study, now published in the journal Nature, describing how, “The major mechanism underlying nanoparticle synthesis involved phosphorus (P) solubilization by production of gluconic acid through the pqq gene cluster present in B. licheniformis. This solubilized P then combined with Ca in a sol-gel manner to yield nHAP.”

The outcome is a powder of crystalline particles with a size range of 25 – 35 nm (dependent on phosphate concentrations, which the report notes as, “… 2%, 5%, 10% and 20% w/v of potassium dihydrogen orthophosphate monobasic (K2HPO4).”

Adding that tests have shown, “… no adverse effect on plant growth-promoting bacteria.”

The ultimate result is a nanofertilizer with a size, shape, and structure that makes phosphorus highly available for crops.

While the team at the feasibility of industrial nanofertilizer production, they are confident that the relative simplicity of the technique will ensure a straightforward upscale.

Furthermore, while the challenge of nurturing sufficient microorganism growth remains, the process allows for the safe handling of the bacteria, leading to cost-effective manufacture.

With consumers, politicians, and farmers all questioning the sustainability of modern fertilizer practices, the continued use of bulk rock phosphate supplies that leads to soil toxification and the eutrophication of rivers, lakes, and oceans, points to a likely increase in the adoption of nanofertilizer.  

Given its high efficiency and effectiveness and the need to replenish phosphate availability in so much of the world’s farmland, the discovery of a cost-effective process for nHAP production is sure to be a positive move.

Photo credit: Nature, Aces, fertilizerproduction, Ifad, & drylandsystems

A recent study has found that the nutritional value of rice improves with the application of nanofertilizer, a discovery that could have a profound impact on the war on hunger.

Earlier studies have already shown that nanofertilizers can reduce fertilizer waste. For example, a recent report in the industry journal Agronomy, states that, “… 75% N of urea after application in field is lost through volatilization …  or through leaching or runoff to water bodies. Current N fertilizers face the problem of low nitrogen utilization efficiency (<20%) causing eutrophication and greenhouse gas increase.” Adding that, “… key macronutrient elements, including N, P, and K, applied to the soil are lost by 40–70 %, 80–90 % and 50–90%, respectively, causing a considerable loss of resources. The excess phosphorus becomes ‘fixed’ in the soil, where it forms chemical bonds with other nutrients and becomes unavailable for uptake by plants.”

It is already well known that as the human population continues to rise, there is an urgent need to produce more food.

However, with limited available farmland coinciding with the majority of population growth occurring in developing countries the need to produce more nutritious food is also becoming an issue.

This latest study has now proven that nanofertilizers may help solve three of the planet’s key challenges: sustainability of natural resources, mankind’s impact on the environment, and global hunger.

Given that rice is a base food source for so many people (more than three billion people consume rice for more than 20% of their daily calorie intake) the study looked at the way that nanofertilizers can improve its nutritional value.

According to Ricepedia, “Rice is the fastest growing food staple in Africa, and also one of the fastest in Latin America.” While, “In the Middle East, rice consumption has nearly doubled in the past two decades.”

The study was conducted by the Islamic Azad University and the Gorgan University of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources at two different plots in northern Iran, a region with a naturally low levels of silicon (Si) and zinc (Zn) in the soil.  

Led by Prof. Norollah Kheyri from Islamic Azad University, the team compared the effect of soil-Zn, soil-Si, nano-Zn, and nano-Si application on the growth of the rice variety Oryza sativa L.

A report published in The Digital Library of the Alliance of Crop, Soil, and Environmental Science Societies describes the experiment as follows; “Nano-fertilizers were applied to rice leaves at four key times in the plant’s life cycle: early tillering, middle tillering, panicle initiation, and full heading stage. Soil fertilizers were applied once when rice seedlings were transplanted into paddies at the beginning of the growing season.”

While the results have now been published in the Agronomy Journal, where the team conclude that, “Application of nano‐Zn, nano‐Si, soil‐Zn, and soil‐Si significantly increased GY (grain yield) by 12.6, 9.5, 9.2, and 6.9%, respectively, above the control.”

Adding that, “Application of Si and Zn through NPs [nanoparticles] had greater effects than soil form for some experimental parameters, such as fortification of rice grains. Overall, our results suggest that Si and Zn applications as NPs could … enrich rice grains with Si and Zn … leading to higher GY and nutrients accumulation in grain.”

The study also noted the advantages of applying silicon and zinc together.

“There is a synergistic interaction between Si and Zn,” Kheyri says, “which improves the absorption of these elements in the plant.” This was particularly evident in the increased protein content on plants fed nanofertilizer.

While the team did note that applying nanofertilizer four times during the course of the year is a time-consuming practice, Kheyri believes that on larger farms, “These problems can be solved by the use of sprayer drones.” Noting that on smaller farms nanofertilizer can be applied by backpack sprayer, as it was on the study plots.

The ability to apply nanofertilizer by unmanned aerial vehicle further highlights how little fertilizer product is needed for effective crop nutrition. This could be a crucial benefit to farmers in rural developing countries where poor infrastructure makes supplying conventional fertilizers logistically difficult or prohibitively expensive.

Significantly, these rural areas are where food poverty is most likely, especially if they have no access to fertilizer.

The low volume of nanofertilizer can therefore be a key advantage towards combating hunger. One that runs alongside how nanofertilizers reduce resource wastage, aid soil health, cause less environmental damage, and additionally improve a crop’s nutritional value.

As such the case for using nanofertilizers is made clear, leaving the road open for farmers to make the obvious choice in switching away from traditional fertilizers.

As Kheyri states, “If farmers have enough positive effects on increasing yields and incomes, improving human nutrition and reducing environmental pollution, they will be willing to adopt nanoparticle fertilizers.”

Photo credit: Wiley, Wikipedia, Ifpnews, & Environmentalleader

The biofertilizer industry has long known about the power of microorganisms to improve the availability of nutrients in the soil for plants. But recently, researchers also discovered that the role of microbes in the soil goes much deeper. In fact, bacteria are at work all the way down to the bedrock where they speed up the process of making soil.

Soil was once described as, “that thin layer on the planet that stands between us and starvation”, yet studies have calculated that, “Each year, an estimated 24 billion tonnes of fertile soil are lost due to erosion. That’s 3.4 tonnes lost every year for every person on the planet.”

This may pose a major challenge for the future of agriculture as making soil takes time. The US Department of Agriculture stating that, “… most soil scientists agree that it takes at least 100 years and it varies depending on climate, vegetation, and other factors.”

Science has now shown the key role that organisms play in breaking down bedrock to form soil.

The research was conducted at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where a team led by senior author Eric Roden, a professor of geoscience, questioned our current understanding of soil.

“The general picture of soil shows solid bedrock a few meters below the surface, then a fractured, crumbly layer popularly called ‘subsoil’,” explained Roden. “At the top is the rich, biologically active layer called soil. Chemical analysis links the minerals in soil to bedrock, but how does this extreme transformation take place?”

The role of plant roots, natural compounds, and oxygen in degrading surface rocks is known, but the bedrock that lies under the soil is beyond the reach of roots, so our understanding of how it is broken down is minimal. This study has shown that microorganisms play a role in fracturing the bedrock and decomposing solid rock into the smaller mineral components, such as potassium and phosphorus, that make soil an inhabitable place for plants.

It is knowledge that could lead to a better understanding of soil microorganisms and their role in soil and crop cultivation.

The work has now been published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

“We know that chemical and physical processes start to crack bedrock,” says Roden, “but those processes are not enough to make the minerals that become soil. Once the bedrock cracks sufficiently, microbes enter the cracks and take over. The result, according to our work, is a rapid biological acceleration of weathering.”

Key to the relationship between microbes and rock is oxidation, the process that causes iron to rust.

In essence, oxidation moves electrons and in doing so supplies energy to the bacteria.

As the university press release notes, “In general, microbes ingest their ‘food’ into their cells before they ‘eat’ it, but they cannot ingest intact rock. So, the diverse group of bacteria that Roden's group identified in the lab use proteins on their outer surface to move the electrons.”

To test this theory, the study’s first author, Stephanie Napieralski drilled to the bedrock, 8m below the surface. She then, “… ground up samples of a rock called diorite, which contains ferrous iron. Grinding was intended to accelerate the slow biochemical reactions she was hoping to see, and speed the pace from geological to academic. Then she inoculated the samples with material from the drill hole, which carried a natural stew of bacteria. She used a sterile fluid for her comparison samples.”

These samples were then left in the dark, at room temperature, for 30 months. Analysis of the surface texture of the rocks with electron micrographs showed a radical change – but only in samples where the bacteria had been present.

“The rate of oxidation, weathering, was slow, but without the bacteria, it was zero,” highlights Napieralski. “Although there is some chemical weathering in the critical zone, it was so slow that we did not see it during the experiment.”

“What we've developed is a picture of how bacteria slowly ‘munch’ rocks to extract energy without taking the minerals into their cells,” adds Roden. “In my opinion, this type of metabolism has been going on basically forever, but unknown to us.”

A process which he describes in layman’s terms as the bacteria essentially ‘eating’ the upper surface of the rock.

“This discovery opens up a whole other way of thinking about the oxidative weathering of ferrous silicate rock. We have danced around this for years. Rocks were dissolving, and microbes were involved.”

Significantly, the bacteria involved in the process come from a wide range of bacterial phyla, which means, according to Roden, that, “they are as different as zebras and frogs.”

As the experiments were carried out on pulverized rock, the discovery will do little to help farmers convert any rocky outcrops on their farms into soil any time soon. However, it is worth noting that the researchers were able to measure the production of ATP, an energy-processing molecule, proving that the microorganisms were alive and working throughout the two and a half years of being kept in the dark.

Furthermore, the team believe that the ‘rock-eating’ mineral may also play an important role in conditioning materials higher up in the soil. While the presence of temperature fluctuations nearer the surface mean that additional study is required, logic suggests that wherever there is iron in the soil, the microbes will be found.

“External electron transfer is a way to cope with the difficulty of eating iron,” says Napieralski. “One big thing in the paper is demonstrating that the organisms grew and coupled the oxidation of iron to the generation of ATP, the ‘energy molecule’ in all known types of life.”

To better understand soil and how it allows crops to grow, requires a full understanding of everything living in it. As Roden concludes, “What we have found is that the cells make direct contact with an otherwise insoluble mineral, and they pull electrons from the mineral. They are getting energy from eating rock and along the way supplying nutrients for plants - for life on Earth.”

Photo credit: University of Wisconsin-Madison, Soilsmatter, & Jeffries.

Most brand new industries involve intense races to be the first to bring products to market. Tesla is in fierce competition against Ford, GM and many others to make the first affordable electric, self-driving car. Microsoft famously beat Cisco and IBM to market with a number of features for home computers, whilst Sony made a small fortune producing portable music in the Sony Walkman, until the technology was copied by other manufacturers.

However, a biofertilizer project in Tuscany has taken on a different approach for the expansion of its plant nutrition products. Instead of hiding the recipe for quality biofertilizer, they are instead expanding a network of crop nutritionists, farmers, and fertilizer suppliers to share information and spread the word of the advantages of biofertilizer.

“Biofertilizers,” are defined by researchers on the scientific journal Research Gate as, “natural fertilizers of living microbial inoculants of bacteria, algae, and fungi, alone or in combination, which augment the availability of nutrients to plants. The role of biofertilizers in agriculture assumes special significance, particularly in the present context of increased cost of chemical fertilizer and their hazardous effects on soil health.”

The lead in cooperation in the biofertilizer industry is being taken by FERTIBIO, which is co-funded by the EU Commission, and described by European Innovation Partnership (EIP-AGRI)  website as, “… an Italian Operational Group using microorganisms and biomaterials to develop innovative biological fertilisers for the cultivation of food and feed crops.”

The desire to share growing successes and failures with others is based upon the need to lower the use of mineral fertilizers and lessen environmental pollution. At the same time, the highly agricultural Tuscan economy requires that crop productivity, soil fertility, and production quality are all maintained.

The appetite to move away from conventional fertilizers is a trend that is being seen across all levels of agriculture, as well as among consumers.

As Cosimo Righini, an agricultural researcher from the University of Pisa and a representative of CIA Toscana, one of FERTIBIO’s many partners notes, “In Tuscany and across Europe there is growing interest in new models of agriculture that guarantee a reduction of pollutants and a rationalisation of energy inputs.”

The goal is to focus on ‘Symbiotic Agriculture’, a crop nutrition system which he describes, “… is about restoring, safeguarding and using the symbioses between soil microorganisms and the root systems of crops. Biofertilizers help to achieve this symbiosis, accelerating microbial processes which increases the availability of nutrients.”

At the heart of the project are the farmers, who work in an agricultural cooperative to help develop and test new formulations of biofertilizers for herbaceous plant species. For the FERTIBIO project, this means carrying out field tests in different parts of the region and with different crops and cultivation systems.

These tests are largely focused on the gradual release of soilborne microorganisms called arbuscular endomicorrhizal fungi or AMF.

“We are collecting interesting results about the application of AMF in tomato production” says Elisa Pellegrino PhD, an Assistant Professor at the Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies, “some cultivars seem to be influenced in a positive way in their growth and ripening”.

In fact, most farmers notice a positive effect from the use of biofertilizers.

“Biofertilizers increase yield by 15-35% in most of vegetable crops,” says Pellegrino. “Some excrete antibiotics and thus act as pesticides and, more importantly, they do not cause atmospheric pollution and increase soil fertility compared to mineral fertilisers.”

Once all field tests are complete the project will then transfer to an industrial scale. “One of the project goals is to scale up production of different types of biofertilizer at an industrial level,” says Righini, “doing this will create the first Tuscan production of biofertilizers developed together with farmers.”

At the core of the growth in production and application will be the sharing of the benefits of biofertilizers, aiding farmers in their own trials, educating them with training courses and workshops, as well as the publication of a field guide on the use of FERTIBIO’s specific biofertilizer products.

As Righini makes clear, “We are strongly interested in creating a network on biofertilizers, with the help of EIP-AGRI to share projects and best practice.”

That in itself sounds like best practice for the whole biofertilizer industry.

Photo credit: Facebook

If further evidence were required of the growing market for nanofertilizers, one should look no further than the recent developments in India, where crop nutrition business IFFCO announced the start of on-field trials with a view towards mass production of nanofertilizers for this enormous market.

The trials are based on a range of products, including nano nitrogen, nano copper, and nano zinc, and are part of an industry-wide move away from environmentally impactful traditional chemical fertilizers. The strategy also hopes to capture technological advantages that are still being made in this cutting-edge form of crop nutrition.

The plan is to raise crop output by between 15% and 30% while reducing conventional chemical fertilizer usage by 50%.

The news came via a joint press release by Mansukh Mandaviya, Union Minister of State for Shipping and Chemicals & Fertilizers, Parshottam Rupalal, Union Minister for Agriculture, and Nitin Patel, Deputy Chief Minister of the state of Gujarat; also in attendance were 34 progressive farmers (including Padma Shri award winning farmers) from every state in India. Clearly the strategy is to introduce the benefits of nanofertilizer application across the entire sub-continent.

The products were all developed in India, at IFFCO’s Nano Biotechnology Research Centre (NBRC), which created nanofertilizers with the goal of improving crop production, while also aiding soil health and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Further products are also planned which could combine multiple nutrients into a single nanofertilizer product.

Targets such as this for the rapidly expanding Indian agricultural industry will have a profound affect on global issues. For example, according to the IndexMundi, “Fertilizer consumption in India was 165 kilograms per hectare of arable land as of 2016.” Ranking it the 53^rdhighest user per hectare in the world of nitrogenous, potash, and phosphate fertilizers (including ground rock phosphate). With so many hectares of farmland to cover, that makes India a major consumer of fertilizer.

“This step will certainly complement to the vision of our Prime Minister Narendra Modi for doubling the farmer’s income by 2022,” said Gowda.

Combating the traditional fertilizer suppliers is a real challenge, but the prospects for nanofertilizer are still good.

Nano-nitrogen fertilizer has the potential to cut the fertilizer industry’s need for urea by 50%. Similarly, nano-zinc products could also reduce NPK fertilizer demand by 50%, with as little as 10 gm of nanofertilizer products sufficient for a hectare of farmland.

And while nano-copper usage is not expected to have such a large effect on conventional fertilizer sales, it is a farm input product that provides both crop nutrition and crop protection. It increases natural plant hormone production which boosts growth, whilst also aiding plant immunity against pathogens and fungal attacks.

Dr U.S. Awasthi, IFFCO’s managing director outlined at a recent press conference how nanofertilizer can make a real difference to yields. “As an experiment,” he said, “100 percent of nano fertilizer was used at one place, while 25 percent urea was put in a different place along with 75 percent nano-technology fertilizer. There was no shortage in yield capacities in both places.”

Further research on nanofertilizers by the Forest Research Institute of India found that a neem tree was able to grow to maturity within 5 years, half of the expected ten years without.

But beyond the scientific benefits of nanofertilizer usage, India is well place to make additional gains from converting away from conventional bulk fertilizer products. The country has a low-level of infrastructure making bulk fertilizer logistics complicated, especially during Monsoon seasons. In addition, India’s farmers are typically less educated than in other regions, so use of nanofertilizer could help prevent incorrect fertilizer application levels that can lead to soil damage, leaf burning, and contamination of drinking water supplies. This latter issue can be of particular concern in rural areas where inhabitants drink directly from wells and rivers with limited water treatment.

“It will also reduce the imbalance of the soil,” notes Awasthi. But perhaps most significantly for all fertilizer users, “It will be a revolutionary step in terms of reducing the production cost for farmers.”

Photo credit: Dextrainternational, Faidelhi, & Zeebiz

The fertilizer industry has long been known as agriculture’s dirty little secret. A sector of food production which is responsible for 1% of global greenhouse gas emissions, creates algal booming on a global scale, causes ‘dead zones’ in our seas and oceans, and poisons groundwater.

Yet without modern nitrogen and other chemical fertilizers hundreds of millions of people would starve to death.

What is needed is a more intelligent, holistic approach to plant nutrition. A way of combining the power of fungi, bacteria, and plants to boost crop yields. Something which a team of biofertilizer specialists from India believe they have struck upon.

The study focused on microbes that were found inside cattails (bulrushes) growing on the edge of a pool of tailings from a uranium mine. The researchers were attracted to the microbes due to their unusual environment and the high levels of nutrients which surrounded them.

The fungus that they found is called Rhodotorula mucilaginosa JGTA-S1 (JGTA-S1 being the specific strain). After isolating the pink-coloured fungus from inside the narrowleaf cattail (Typha angustifolia), the team found that it contains nitrogen-fixing bacteria, that could convert atmospheric nitrogen into a soluble form available for the plant. The team also observed that the fungus improved the growth rate of the cattails. They also analysed the fungus’s genome sequence, finding that several of its genes were ideal for a plant-associated fungus.

Following this information, the study, conducted by Anindita Seal and Karnelia Paul of the University of Calcutta, and Chinmay Saha of the University of Kalyani, established that JGTA-S1 could grow on rice plants, and began to analyse its effect on plant growth.

They found that not only did the fungus easily colonise rice crops, but that the bacteria within aided plant growth; all three species (the plant, the fungus, and the bacteria) working in symbiosis.

As the scientific journal Phys.org, explains, “JGTA-S1 can grow in nitrogen-free media, with nitrogen fixation assisted by nitrogen-fixing bacteria, including Pseudomonas stutzeri.” Furthermore, “Nitrogen-fixing bacteria are key to JGTA-S1's viability and crucial for the increased biomass and ammonium in fungus-treated plants. The fungus associates with the plant to form filamentous structures, and the P. stutzeri bacteria then penetrate these structures.”

This has led the team to hypothesise that the fungi could be used as a way to transport and implant nitrogen-fixing bacteria into crops to improve yields.  

“Improving nitrogen nutrition in crop plants is a challenge for scientists,” says Anindita Seal, one of the study’s co-authors. “It would be interesting to see whether this three-kingdom interaction can be used to improve nitrogen nutrition in plants other than rice or whether the beneficial role of the endofungal bacteria is plant specific.”

The team has now published their findings in the scientific journal The Plant Cell, where they outline how their goal of improving nitrogen nutrition by identifying plant-interacting N2-fixing microbes. Specifically stating that, “Rhodotorula mucilaginosa JGTA-S1 is a basidiomycetous yeast endophyte of narrowleaf cattail (Typha angustifolia). JGTA-S1 could not convert nitrate or nitrite to ammonium, but harbors diazotrophic (N2-fixing) endobacteria (eg. Pseudomonas stutzeri) that allows JGTA-S1 to fix N2 and grow in a N-free environment.”

Consequently, the team found that, “Endofungal P. stutzeri plays a significant role in increasing the biomass and ammonium content of rice treated with JGTA-S1; also, JGTA-S1 has better N2 fixing ability than free-living P. stutzeri and provides fixed N to the plant.”

This ultimately led to the team being able to conclude that, “JGTA-S1 colonizes rice (Oryza sativa) significantly improving its growth, N content, and relative N-use efficiency.”

What the researchers have discovered is not a biofertilizer in its typical sense, but a reformed understanding of how the fertilizer industry can adopt different methods to improve nitrogen uptake in plants. In this case, they have found a fungus which can actually benefit the economically vital rice crop.

Research is now continuing to find a method of packaging and transporting the fungus (and its associated bacteria) from the lab to the field on an industrial level.

However, even if unsuccessful in this further work, the team has discovered a novel way for employing the interactions between organisms from three different kingdoms; plant, fungi, and bacteria. Taking a giant leap towards replacing conventional fertilizer with something biological.

Photo credit: IMMining, Wired, Phys.org, Dissolve, Britannica, Tribune, Plantae, Twitter, and Phys.org, PixbayBlade, Pixabay, Pexels, Tom Fisk from Pexels