permaculture

[Lawrence London <lfljvenaura@gmail.com>]

Fwd: World changing technology enables crops to take nitrogen from the air
- The University of Nottingham
http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/news/pressreleases/2013/july/world-changing-technology-enables-crops-to-take-nitrogen-from-the-air-.aspx

 25 Jul 2013 12:21:56.663

PA 249/13

A major new technology has been developed by The University of
Nottingham<http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/>,
which enables all of the world’s crops to take nitrogen from the air rather
than expensive and environmentally damaging fertilisers.
Nitrogen fixation, the process by which nitrogen is converted to ammonia,
is vital for plants to survive and grow. However, only a very small number
of plants, most notably legumes (such as peas, beans and lentils) have the
ability to fix nitrogen from the atmosphere with the help of nitrogen
fixing bacteria. The vast majority of plants have to obtain nitrogen from
the soil, and for most crops currently being grown across the world, this
also means a reliance on synthetic nitrogen fertiliser.

 Professor Edward Cocking, Director of The University of Nottingham’s
Centre for Crop Nitrogen Fixation, has developed a unique method of putting
nitrogen-fixing bacteria into the cells of plant roots. His major
breakthrough came when he found a specific strain of nitrogen-fixing
bacteria in sugar-cane which he discovered could intracellularly colonise
all major crop plants. This ground-breaking development potentially
provides every cell in the plant with the ability to fix atmospheric
nitrogen. The implications for agriculture are enormous as this new
technology can provide much of the plant’s nitrogen needs.