Additives and Enhancers: Getting the Most from Your Fertilizer

Dr. Paul Massam, Vickie Massam and Damon Fodge share their perspective on the global soil additives market with CropLife’s Dan Jacobs.

Additives and Enhancers: Getting the Most from Your Fertilizer

By Dan Jacobs|April 1, 2023

Emerging Markets

AZOMITE Mineral Products was founded in Utah in the 1940s. The company’s products are available on every continent except Antarctica. And the company has seen an increase in business in many areas.

Damon Fodge, Vice President of Sales and Marketing of DF International, AZOMITE distributor to Asia, has seen an uptick in organic fertilizer producers incorporating AZOMITE as an ingredient to their own soil product formulations and blends.

“These are often output as compost-based granules for ease in application and are a cost-effective means for getting our products distributed through very large areas such as Malaysia,” Fodge says.

J Paul Massam of AZOMITE Mineral Products says there are no geographic boundaries where AZOMITE can supplement soil programs and enhance soil fertility.

Dr. J Paul Massam and Vickie Massam of Massam LLC, AZOMITE distributors for Canada, Mexico, Central and Latin America, and the Caribbean have seen similar results.

“There are no geographic boundaries around opportunities where AZOMITE can supplement soil programs that enhance soil fertility, which supports plant yields, quality, and stress resistance,” J Paul says.

Vickie Massam added: “As growers around the world experience shifts in normal weather patterns, studies have shown that the natural elements in AZOMITE may help improve plant resilience. Who doesn’t need that?”

AZOMITE improved growth, immunity, intestine health in largemouth bass

Dietary Azomite, a natural trace mineral complex, improved the growth, immunity response, intestine health and resistance against bacterial infection in largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides) Abstract https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33248252/

Azomite is a hydrated calcium sodium aluminosilicat rich in rare earth elements. To investigate the dietary effects of Azomite on growth, intestine microbiota and morphology, immunohematological changes and disease resistance, seven diets with Azomite supplementation of 0 (the control), 1.0, 2.0, 3.0, 4.0, 5.0 and 6.0 g/kg (A0, A1, A2, A3, A4, A5, A6), were prepared and fed to largemouth bass, Micropterus salmoides (7.96 ± 0.19) for 60 days. The results revealed that the weight gain (WG) increased first and then decreased with the increasing dietary Azomite, and the A2 group presented the highest WG and lowest feed conversion ratio among all the groups. The supplementation of 2.0 g/kg Azomite significantly increased the intestine protease activity, the crude protein of whole body and protein retention (P < 0.05), and high inclusion of Azomite (6.0 g/kg) significantly reduced the lipid retention (P < 0.05). The amounts of red blood cells in A5, A6 groups, white blood cells in A3, A5, A6 groups and lymphocyte in A2-A6 groups were all significantly higher than those in the control group (P < 0.05). In addition, serum superoxide dismutase and catalase activities in A5, A6 groups, and serum alkaline phosphatase and lysozyme activities in A2-A4 groups showed significantly higher values than the control group (P < 0.05). Intestinal microbiota analysis indicated that the Tenericutes abundance was increased, whereas Proteobacteria abundance was decreased in all Azomite supplemented groups. The villus height in A2-A4 groups, and the villus width in A2 group were significantly higher than those of the control group (P < 0.05). The cumulative mortality was reduced by the addition of 2.0-5.0 g/kg Azomite after challenging with A. hydrophila (P < 0.05). In conclusion, proper addition of Azomite in diets improved the growth, intestine morphology, immune response and disease resistance in largemouth bass, and the optimal inclusion was estimated to be 2.0-3.0 g/kg diet.

Keywords: Azomite; Disease resistance; Feed utilization; Growth; Immune response; Largemouth bass; Microbiota.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays from Massam LLC

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Our very best wishes for the holiday season and the coming new year!

Farmers In China, Uganda Move To High-Yielding, Cost-Saving Perennial Rice

November 8, 2022

By Eurasia Review

The development of high-yielding perennial rice means up to eight harvests from a single planting, significantly lowering labor and cost for smallholder farmers while simultaneously improving soil quality. Researchers from the University of Illinois, Yunnan Academy of Agricultural Sciences, the International Rice Research Institute, Yunnan University, the University of Queensland, and the Land Institute contributed to the development and deployment of perennial rice. CREDIT: Photo provided by Shilai Zhang, Yunnan University

After more than 9,000 years in cultivation, annual paddy rice is now available as a long-lived perennial. The advancement means farmers can plant just once and reap up to eight harvests without sacrificing yield, an important step change relative to “ratooning,” or cutting back annual rice to obtain second, weaker harvest.

A new report in Nature Sustainability chronicles agronomic, economic, and environmental outcomes of perennial rice cultivation across China’s Yunnan Province. Already, the retooled crop is changing the lives of more than 55,752 smallholder farmers in southern China and Uganda.

“Farmers are adopting the new perennial rice because it’s economically advantageous for them to do so. Farmers in China, like everywhere else, are getting older. Everyone’s going to the cities; young people are moving away. Planting rice is very labor intensive and costs a lot of money. By not having to plant twice a year, they save a lot of labor and time,” says Erik Sacks, professor in the Department of Crop Sciences at the University of Illinois and co-author on the report.

Sacks, along with senior author Fengyi Hu and Dayun Tao, began working to develop perennial rice in 1999 in a collaboration between the Yunnan Academy of Agricultural Sciences and the International Rice Research Institute. In subsequent years, the project grew to include the University of Illinois, Yunnan University, and the University of Queensland. Another partner, The Land Institute, provided perennial grain breeding and agroecology expertise, along with seed funding to ensure continuity of the project.

The researchers developed perennial rice through hybridization, crossing an Asian domesticated annual rice with a wild perennial rice from Africa. Taking advantage of modern genetic tools to fast-track the process, the team identified a promising hybrid in 2007, planted large-scale field experiments in 2016, and released the first commercial perennial rice variety, PR23, in 2018.

The international research team spent five years studying perennial rice performance alongside annual rice on farms throughout Yunnan Province. With few exceptions, perennial rice yield [6.8 megagrams per hectare] was equivalent to annual rice [6.7 megagrams per hectare] over the first four years. Yield began to drop off in the fifth year due to various factors, leading the researchers to recommend re-sowing perennial rice after four years.

But because they didn’t have to plant each season, farmers growing perennial rice put in almost 60% less labor and spent nearly half on seed, fertilizer, and other inputs.

“The reduction in labor, often done by women and children, can be accomplished without substitution by fossil fuel–based equipment, an important consideration as society aims to improve livelihoods while reducing greenhouse gas emissions associated with agricultural production,” Sacks says.

The economic benefits of perennial rice varied across study locations, but profits ranged from 17% to 161% above annual rice. Even in sites and years when perennial rice suffered temporary yield dips due to pests, farmers still achieved a greater economic return than by growing the annual crop.

“That first season, when they planted the annual and the perennial rice side by side, everything was the same, essentially. Yield is the same, costs are the same, there’s no advantage,” Sacks says. “But the second crop and every subsequent crop comes at a huge discount, because you don’t have to buy seeds, you don’t have to buy as much fertilizer, you don’t need as much water, and you don’t need to transplant that rice. It’s a big advantage.”

Avoiding twice-yearly tillage, perennial rice cultivation also provides significant environmental benefits. The research team documented higher soil organic carbon and nitrogen stored in soils under perennial rice. Additional soil quality parameters improved, as well.

“Modern high-yielding annual crops typically require complete removal of existing vegetation to establish and often demand major inputs of energy, pesticides, and fertilizers. This combination of repeated soil disturbance and high inputs can disrupt essential ecosystem services in unsustainable ways, especially for marginal lands,” says Hu, professor and dean in the School of Agriculture at Yunnan University. “Perennial rice not only benefits farmers by improving labor efficiency and soil quality, but it also helps replenish ecological systems required to maintain productivity over the long term.”

Another piece of the study assessed the low-temperature tolerance of perennial rice, with the goal of predicting its optimal growing zone around the world. Although significant exposure to cold limited regrowth, the research team predicts the crop could work in a broad range of frost-free locations.

Although they’ve already conducted on-farm testing and released three perennial rice varieties as commercial products in China and one in Uganda, the researchers aren’t done refining the crop. They plan to use the same modern genetic tools to quickly introduce desirable traits such as aroma, disease resistance, and drought tolerance into the new crop, potentially expanding its reach across the globe.

“While early findings on the environmental benefits of perennial rice are impressive and promising, more research and funding are needed to understand the full scope of perennial rice’s potential,” says Tim Crews, Chief Scientist at The Land Institute and study co-author. “Questions about carbon sequestration and persistence and greenhouse gas balances in perennial paddy rice systems remain. Researchers must also make progress on perennializing upland rice, which could curb highly unsustainable soil erosion on farmlands across Southeast Asia. As the work of Dr. Hu’s group at Yunnan University progresses, The Land Institute and an ever-growing network of collaborators will continue to support these research and scaling efforts for perennial rice globally.”

Sacks adds, “I think now, with perennial rice in farmers’ fields, we have turned a corner. We have been feeding humanity by growing these grains as annuals since the dawn of agriculture, but it wasn’t necessarily the better way. Now we can consciously choose to make a better crop, and a better, more sustainable agriculture. We can fix the errors of history.”

Researchers dumped tons of coffee waste into a forest. This is what it looks like now.

Researchers dumped tons of coffee waste into a forest. This is what it looks like now.
Tod Perry09.21.22
assets.rebelmouse.io
This article originally appeared on 03.29.21

One of the biggest problems with coffee production is that it generates an incredible amount of waste. Once coffee beans are separated from cherries, about 45% of the entire biomass is discarded.

So for every pound of roasted coffee we enjoy, an equivalent amount of coffee pulp is discarded into massive landfills across the globe. That means that approximately 10 million tons of coffee pulp is discarded into the environment every year.

When disposed of improperly, the waste can cause serious damage soil and water sources.

However, a new study published in the British Ecological Society journal Ecological Solutions and Evidence has found that coffee pulp isn’t just a nuisance to be discarded. It can have an incredibly positive impact on regrowing deforested areas of the planet.

In 2018, researchers from ETH-Zurich and the University of Hawaii spread 30 dump trucks worth of coffee pulp over a roughly 100′ x 130′ area of degraded land in Costa Rica. The experiment took place on a former coffee farm that underwent rapid deforestation in the 1950s.

The coffee pulp was spread three-feet thick over the entire area.

Another plot of land near the coffee pulp dump was left alone to act as a control for the experiment.

“The results were dramatic.” Dr. Rebecca Cole, lead author of the study, said. “The area treated with a thick layer of coffee pulp turned into a small forest in only two years while the control plot remained dominated by non-native pasture grasses.”

In just two years, the area treated with coffee pulp had an 80% canopy cover, compared to just 20% of the control area. So, the coffee-pulp-treated area grew four times more rapidly. Like a jolt of caffeine, it reinvigorated biological activity in the area.

The canopy was also four times taller than that of the control.

via British Ecological Society

The coffee-treated area also eliminated an invasive species of grass that took over the land and prevented forest succession. Its elimination allowed for other native species to take over and recolonize the area.

“This case study suggests that agricultural by-products can be used to speed up forest recovery on degraded tropical lands. In situations where processing these by-products incurs a cost to agricultural industries, using them for restoration to meet global reforestation objectives can represent a ‘win-win’ scenario,” Dr. Cole said.

If the results are repeatable it’s a win-win for coffee drinkers and the environment.

Researchers believe that coffee treatments can be a cost-effective way to reforest degraded land. They may also work to reverse the effects of climate change by supporting the growth of forests across the globe.

The 2016 Paris Agreement made reforestation an important part of the fight against climate change. The agreement incentivizes developing countries to reduce deforestation and forest degradation, promote forest conservation and sustainable management, and enhance forest carbon stocks in developing countries.

“We hope our study is a jumping off point for other researchers and industries to take a look at how they might make their production more efficient by creating links to the global restoration movement,” Dr. Cole said.

México: Bioinsumos, una alternativa más para llegar a la autosuficiencia alimentaria

El uso de bioinsumos genera una mejora en la calidad de los suelos y plantas y son un aliado para la transición agroecológica.

viernes, 15 de julio del 2022

La transición agroecológica en México está en marcha, y es uno de los objetivos a lograr en los próximos años, para ello se requiere la participación de las y los productores de toda escala y regiones, con el fin de transitar a nuevas formas de producción respetuosas con el medio ambiente y que genere alimentos saludables.

Uno de los mejores aliados para llevar a cabo este proceso son los bioinsumos, los cuales, además de contribuir con la transición agroecológica se vuelven necesarios en medio de la carestía mundial de fertilizantes químicos, cuyo origen es el conflicto bélico entre Rusia y Ucrania.

Pero, ¿qué son los bioinsumos?

Son productos que se obtienen a partir del procesamiento de materia vegetal y del aislamiento y multiplicación de microorganismos. Éstos se utilizan con fines de fertilización y nutrición de las plantas y suelos, y dan como resultado una mejora en la calidad de los suelos.

Además, favorecen la absorción de nutrientes en cultivos y suelos; controlan las enfermedades de las plantas; regulan las poblaciones de plagas y estimulan la resistencia y productividad de las plantaciones. Todo ello tiene como consecuencia mayor productividad agrícola con respeto al medio ambiente y con alimentos saludables para las familias productoras y las y los mexicanos.

Principales beneficios del uso de bioinsumos

El uso de bioinsumos con fines de fertilización, nutrición de las plantas y suelos para elevar la productividad agrícola y control de plagas en el campo tiende a crecer de forma rápida a lo largo y ancho del país, además de que ofrecen rentabilidad económica. Esto con base en análisis realizados por Fideicomisos Instituidos en Relación con la Agricultura (FIRA).

Sumado ello, generan beneficios ambientales: de restablecimiento de la salud de los suelos e incremento de la biodiversidad y reducción de emisiones de gases de efecto invernadero, ya que es viable bajar o prescindir del uso de los fertilizantes químicos, los cuales implican el consumo de grandes cantidades de energía fósil.

En nuestro país existen cinco espacios fundamentales donde la transición ecológica está permeando:

1. Los centros de investigación de ciencia y tecnología.

2. Las escuelas campesinas.

3. Los tianguis y mercados orgánicos

4. Las experiencias comunitarias o regionales.

5. Los consumidores responsables.

Para conocer más sobre cómo preparar bioinsumos compartimos la siguiente lista de reproducción en Youtube: Bioinsumos transición agroecológica, en donde encontrarás tutoriales sencillos para producir:

Agua carbonatada
Agua de vidrio
Supermagro
Caldo bordelés
Caldo sulfocalcico
Té de composta
Solución Steiner
Elaboración de Bocashi
Composta
Extractos de Vegetales
Inoculación de semillas
Trampas
Microorganismos de montaña
Humus de lombriz
Lixiviado del lombriz
Microorganismos específicos.

A través de la Estrategia de Acompañamiento Técnico del programa Producción para el Bienestar se incentiva el uso de bioinsumos como un aliado más de nuestros #HéroesDeLaAlimentación para lograr la autosuficiencia alimentaria.

Fertilizer prices are soaring – and that’s an opportunity to promote more sustainable ways of growing crops

Published: June 14, 2022 8.30am EDT

Farmers are coping with a fertilizer crisis brought on by soaring fossil fuel prices and industry consolidation. The price of synthetic fertilizer has more than doubled since 2021, causing great stress in farm country.

This crunch is particularly tough on those who grow corn, which accounts for half of U.S. nitrogen fertilizer use. The National Corn Growers Association predicts that its members will spend 80% more in 2022 on synthetic fertilizers than they did in 2021. A recent study estimates that on average, this will represent US$128,000 in added costs per farm.

In response, the Biden administration announced a new grant program on March 11, 2022, “to support innovative American-made fertilizer to give U.S. farmers more choices in the marketplace.” The U.S. Department of Agriculture will invest $500 million to try to lower fertilizer costs by increasing production. But since this probably isn’t enough money to construct new fertilizer plants, it’s not clear how the money will be spent.

I direct the Swette Center for Sustainable Food Systems at Arizona State University and have held senior positions at the USDA, including serving as deputy secretary of agriculture from 2009 to 2013. In my view, producing more synthetic fertilizer should not be the only answer to this serious challenge. The U.S. should also provide support for nature-based solutions, including farming practices that help farmers reduce or forgo synthetic fertilizers, and biological products that substitute for harsher chemical inputs.

Peas, beans and clover add nitrogen to soil naturally and can supplement or substitute for synthetic nitrogen fertilizer.

Too much fertilizer in the wrong places

All plants need nutrients to grow, especially the “big three” macronutrients: nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. Farmers can fertilize their fields by planting crops that add nitrogen to soil naturally or by applying animal manure and compost to soil.

Since World War II, however, farmers have relied mainly on manufactured synthetic fertilizers that contain various ratios of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, along with secondary nutrients and micronutrients. That shift happened because manufacturers produced huge quantities of ammonium nitrate, the main ingredient in explosives, during the war; when the conflict ended, they switched to making nitrogen fertilizer.

Synthetic fertilizers have greatly enhanced crop yields and are rightly credited with helping to feed the world. But they aren’t used evenly around the world. In poor regions like sub-Saharan Africa, too little fertilizer is available. In wealthier areas, abundant synthetic fertilizers have contributed to overapplication and serious environmental harm.

Excess fertilizer washes off of fields during storms and runs into rivers and lakes. There, it fertilizes huge blooms of algae that die and decompose, depleting oxygen in the water and creating “dead zones” that can’t support fish or other aquatic life. This process, eutrophication, is a major problem in the Great Lakes, the Chesapeake Bay, the Gulf of Mexico and many other U.S. water bodies.

Excess nitrogen can also contaminate drinking water and threaten human health. And fertilizers, whether animal-sourced or synthetic, are a significant source of nitrous oxide, a potent greenhouse gas.

Green scum covers water around a dock. — Heavy nutrient runoff from farmlands produces chronic blooms of algae in Lake Erie, the smallest Great Lake by volume. NOAA

What’s causing the crisis

One reason U.S. fertilizer prices have spiked is that farmers are beholden to imports. COVID-19 disrupted supply chains, especially from China, a major fertilizer producer. And the war in Ukraine has cut off access to potash, an important potassium source, from Russia and Belarus.

Another factor is that the fertilizer industry is highly concentrated. There is little competition, so farmers have no choice but to buy fertilizer at the market price. Several U.S. state attorneys general have called on economists to study anti-competitive practices in the fertilizer industry.

The USDA is seeking information on competition and supply chain concerns in fertilizer markets with a public comment deadline of June 15, 2022. But out of 66 specific questions the department posed with this request, only one addresses what I believe is the key issue: “How might USDA better support modes of production that rely less on fertilizer, or support access to markets that may pay a premium for products relying on less fertilizer?”

Rethinking how to grow crops

I see an opportunity for the Biden administration to take a fresh look at biological products as substitutes for synthetic fertilizers. This category includes biofertilizers and bionutrients – natural materials that provide crop nutrition. Examples include microorganisms that extract nitrogen from the air and convert it into forms that plants can use, and fertilizers converted from manure, food and other plant and wood wastes.

Another category, biostimulants, comprises natural materials that enhance uptake of plant nutrients, reduce crop stress and increase crop growth and quality. Examples include algae and other plant extracts, microorganisms and humic acids – complex molecules produced naturally in soil when organic material breaks down.

In the past, critics dismissed natural products like these as “snake oil,” with little scientific evidence to show that they worked. Now, however, most experts believe that while much remains to be learned, current biofertilizers “offer huge potential in terms of new and more sustainable crop management practices.”

Studies have demonstrated many benefits from these products. They include less need for fertilizer, larger crop yields, enhanced soil health and fewer carbon emissions.

Large synthetic fertilizer companies like Mosaic, OCP and Nutrien are distributing, acquiring or investing in these biological technologies. Agribusiness giant Bayer has partnered with Ginkgo Bioworks in a joint venture called Joyn whose mission is creating “sustainable ag biologicals for crop protection and fertility that meet or exceed the performance of their chemical counterparts.”

A hand spreads pellets and crushed rock over dirt. — A farmer spreads two types of organic fertilizers – bone meal pellets and rock phosphate – before planting spinach in Golden, Colo. Joe Amon/The Denver Post via Getty Images

Offering more choices

Panicked U.S. farmers facing daunting fertilizer prices are looking for options. In public comments on USDA’s fertilizer initiative, the Illinois Corn Growers Association urged the department to investigate why farmers apply fertilizers at levels higher than necessary, while others noted a shortage of agronomists sufficiently trained to guide farmers on how best to sustainably fertilize their crops.

I believe now is an opportune time for USDA to offer incentives for adopting biologicals, as well as practices that organic farmers use to replace synthetic fertilizers, such as crop rotation, composting and raising crops and livestock together. A first step would be to deploy technicians who can advise farmers about sustainable practices and biological products. The department recently announced a new $300 million initiative to help farmers transition to organic production; this is the right idea, but more help is needed.

The agency could also provide one-time payments to farmers in exchange for reducing their use of synthetic fertilizers, which would help to compensate them as they shift their production methods. In the longer term, I believe the USDA should develop new crop insurance tools to protect farmers from the risks of transitioning to more sustainable options. In my view, this kind of broad response would yield more value than a taxpayer-funded, status quo approach to synthetic fertilizers.

Meet the Modern Farmer Turning Manure Into Water

JUN 18, 2022 Emily Baron Cadloff

Why one Texas dairy farmer is going all in on cow waste.

There has to be a better way to do this.

That’s what Donald DeJong thought to himself over and over, working on his farm, Natural Prairie Dairy, in the Texas Panhandle. From sourcing organic fertilizer and trucking it all over his acreage to dealing with weeds and issues with the lagoons that dotted his land, the whole system just seemed inefficient. It needed an overhaul.

DeJong has been a dairy farmer for more than 20 years, with the majority of that time focused on organic dairy. He and his wife started with 800 heads of cattle. Now, they have more than 3,500 cows and have expanded to a second ranch in Indiana. As his business kept growing, DeJong kept coming back to that thought: Is there a better way to do all of this?

“The biggest concern was how do we get a better source of organic fertilizer,” DeJong recalls. Like many dairy farmers, the DeJongs were using lagoons on their farm to safely hold the nitrogen and ammonia that naturally occur in the heaps of manure their cows produced on a daily basis. But letting all of that nitrogen literally evaporate into thin air was frustrating to DeJong. “That’s fertilizer. If we could figure out a way to capture that nitrogen, that was a big motivation.”

So, DeJong started looking around and found Sedron Technologies. Its Varcor system takes that manure and extracts the valuable nutrients, creating a steady stream of fertilizer and potable water at the same time. He flew to Washington to meet the team, where he found himself in a room full of engineers. “I was taken aback; there were over 20 engineers in that room. And we were talking about manure. I’ve never been in a place with that much brain power in one room, with the ability to say, ‘Let’s solve this,’” says DeJong, who signed on to act as a beta tester, putting the Varcor system to work on his farm.

While DeJong says the machinery can get a bit technical to run, with training, it’s easy to use. The manure goes in one end and water comes out the other. The process should be familiar to dairy farmers that use vapor compression to make dry milk powders.

“The liquid goes in, and we take the large fiber out, as there’s not a nutrition value or fertilizer value there. Then that liquid is heated almost to a boiling point,” explains DeJong, at which point condensation starts to collect. That vapor is captured and recompressed into liquids, creating one stream of distilled water and another of aqueous ammonia. The solids that are left over from the “bake” are a concentrated mix of phosphorus, nitrogen and potassium—the three key components of fertilizer.

DeJong takes the dry powder and the aqueous ammonia, stabilized with ammonia nitrate, and uses it on his corn and alfalfa fields as concentrated, weed-free, organic fertilizer. In the face of ongoing fertilizer shortages, producing his own nitrogen has changed how DeJong approaches farming. “And then your clean water comes out, too. It’s beautiful clean water, and we’re upcycling all that stuff coming in,” he says. The farmer then uses the water to irrigate those same crops, creating a much more integrated system.

The Varcor system is a big piece of machinery, filling an entire tractor shed. It’s designed for at least a 3,500-head herd and can process about 110 gallons of input a minute. And with a machine that large comes an equally large price tag. DeJong says the initial investment is about $10 million, although he notes that it also comes with maintenance and tech support.

That’s a lot of money upfront for most farmers. But DeJong is so enamored with the system that he and his wife bought a stake in the company that makes it. He believes that being able to use vapor compression on manure to extract clean water and nitrogen concentrates has the potential to revolutionize the dairy industry—especially in the face of detrimental droughts.

“I am so bullish on this. I think it’s going to capture over half of the industry, for sure. You’re going to be looking at swine operations, poultry operations as well,” DeJong says. Right now, Sedron Technologies, along with DeJong as an enthusiastic spokesperson, is looking to set up six more units over the next year, spread out across Indiana, Texas, Wisconsin and Florida. After that, the goal is to commission a few machines each month.

It’s a tall order, but DeJong thinks that, within five years, this technology will be more accessible to farmers across the country. “It’s scalable,” he says. “And it’s going to transform the backside of animal agriculture for the better.”

Adding fungi to soil may introduce invasive species, threatening ecosystems

Published: March 21, 2022 3.27pm EDT

Invasive, alien species are bad for ecosystems. They reduce bidoversity and disrupt food chains, including our own.

History is full of examples of intentional and unintentional introductions of invasive species. The introduction of cane toads to Northern Australia in the 1930s to fight cane beetles led to decline of many native predators. The fungus that causes chestnut blight snuck into North America via infected nursery stock; four billion trees died in 40 years.

It’s easy enough to see the devastation by invasive species of plants, just look your window: spotted knapweed, Eurasian milfoil and giant hogweed have completely changed communities across North America .

Soil ecosystems

What about creatures in the soil? Have they been affected by invasive species? Which species have gone extinct? Which ones are proliferating? It is important to think about soil as an invisible ecosystem, because many agricultural practices include the deliberate addition of microbes to the soil, biofertilizers.

Biofertilizers are microbes that are grown specifically for application to soil. There are many microbes that are used as biofertilizers, including bacteria and fungi, and the most common application is to improve crop nutrient status. These products are considered by some to be a more sustainable alternative to synthetic fertilizers.

The use of mycorrhizal fungi — fungi that grow on plant roots — as biofertilizers is becoming more common. Applying them as a kind of fertilizer makes sense because these fungi grow in plant roots and help plants get more nutrients from the soil.

Companies encourage farmers to use biofertilizers with the promise that biofertilizers will lead to healthier soil. The number of companies making mycorrhizal fungi has increased dramatically in the last decade — but there’s no easy way to know what they’re selling, where it’s being used and how much is being released into the environment.

The root structure of red daikon radish. Farmers are being sold biofertilizers to increase crop yield. (Shutterstock)

My lab looks at how mycorrhizal biofertilizers move in the environment and how they affect native ecosystems. Because mycorrhizas are an important part of all ecosystems, introducing an alien mycorrhizal fungus may have unintended consequences for native mycorrhizas and ecosystems in general.

Alien species

The application of biofertilizers and mycorrhizal products involves introducing potentially invasive species. These products, which are alien to the environments they are placed in, must establish in a novel environment under a wide range of conditions. To do this, they need to compete against, and replace, native fungi. This is the definition of an invasive species.

The use of biofertilzers may not be a big problem if these products stay where we put them, like in the greenhouse or in a farmer’s field. But if there is one thing we’ve learned about microbes in the last 24 months, it is that they move, and they move fast. There is evidence that mycorrhizal fungi can move over long distances, through atmospheric currents or even as passengers on migratory birds.

In all ecosystems, mycorrhizal fungi link plants in a community through hyphae — thin strands of fungus that carry nutrients to plants. In this way, mycorrhizal fungi and their plant hosts become a superorganism — with plants belonging to different species linked via mycorrhizal hyphae (the filaments that make up the network of a fungi).

This allows plants to sense conditions elsewhere in the network by receiving warning chemicals through hyphae if there is a herbivore somewhere in the network and increasing defence chemicals before an attack occurs. Mycorrhizal fungi can also change the flow of sugars from the canopy when a seedling is shaded and needs more carbon.

The problem is, even though these networks are crucial for ecosystems, science does not understand how they are affected by biofertilizers. There is currently no research on how mycorrhizal networks are affected by the introduction of biofertilizers or what it means for ecosystems. Neither is there research beyond my lab of how far these products are moving. But science is clear on one thing: once we release these organisms into the environment, we lose the ability to control them.

Regulating biofertilizers

This is the crux of the matter: we do not know how big of a threat biofertilizers pose to ecosystems. Yet, these products continue to be marketed and released globally, with little or no regulation. In Canada, they are considered soil additives under the Fertilizer Act, which is the federal legislation overseeing the safety of fertilizer and soil supplements. Regulation focuses on the toxicity of biofertilizers to humans and other animals, not their risk as invasive species.

A better framework might be the Plant Protection Act, which exists to protect plants, agriculture and forestry from the spread of plant pests. While mycorrhizal fungi are not pests, they are not universally beneficially in all contexts. For example, these fungi can act as a carbon drain for plants, suppressing their growth under certain conditions. It is not a stretch to say that, in some cases, they might act as plant pests.

If biofertilizers are not universally beneficial for all plants in all conditions, they pose a real threat to soil biodiversity and perhaps even plant diversity. If biofertilizers outcompete local fungi, this could change the composition and productivity of plant communities. This is a problem for natural systems, but also for agriculture and forestry.

We need to better regulate these products to ensure that they are not a threat to ecosystems. The thin skin of soil on our planet is home to the creatures who keep our ecosystems functioning — we must not forget about them in our quest to make agriculture more sustainable.

https://theconversation.com/adding-fungi-to-soil-may-introduce-invasive-species-threatening-ecosystems-174515

Engineered bacterial strains could fertilize crops, reduce waterways pollution

by American Society for Microbiology

Researchers from Washington State University have engineered strains of the ubiquitous, nitrogen-fixing soil bacterium Azotobacter vinelandii to produce ammonia and excrete it at high concentrations, transferring it into crop plants in lieu of conventional chemical fertilizers.

“We presented conclusive evidence that ammonia released is transferred to the rice plants,” said Florence Mus, Ph.D., assistant research professor, Institute of Biological Chemistry, Washington State University. “Our unique approach aims to provide new solutions to the challenge of replacing industrial fertilizers with custom-made bacteria.”

In other words, this approach could mitigate a major source of environmental pollution. The research is published in Applied and Environmental Microbiology, a journal of the American Society for Microbiology.

The investigators used gene editing techniques to engineer A. vinelandii to produce ammonia at a constant level, regardless of environmental conditions surrounding the bacteria, and to excrete it at concentrations high enough to effectively fertilize crops.

The use of gene editing techniques in lieu of inserting transgenes into the A. vinelandii genome allowed regulatory requirements to be avoided that would have made the development process slower, and more difficult and expensive.

The scientific motivation for the research was an interest in better understanding nitrogen fixation—that is, the chemical processes by which atmospheric nitrogen is assimilated into organic compounds as part of the nitrogen cycle. “Our work helps provide a more complete, fundamental understanding of the factors that underpin gene expression in a model nitrogen fixing microorganism and defines the biochemistry that brings about ammonia excretion in A. vinelandii,” said Mus.

The practical motivation for the research was to reduce the major water pollution problems that arise when excess nitrogen fertilizer gets washed into waterways. This causes algal blooms that deplete oxygen and kill off fish and other aquatic life, creating “dead zones” in lakes, rivers and expanses of ocean. The dead zone in the northern Gulf of Mexico encompasses nearly 6,400 square miles.

To this end, the investigators are designing the bacteria to produce ammonia at a steady rate. But they expect to be able to design different groups of A.vinelandii to produce ammonia at different rates to fit the needs of different species of crop plants. This would allow all the ammonia produced to be used by the plants, rather than ending up washed into waterways.

“Successful widespread adoption of these biofertilizers for farming would reduce pollution, provide sustainable ways of managing the nitrogen cycle in soil, lower production costs and increase profit margins for farmers and enhance sustainable food production by improving soil fertility,” said Mus.

More information: Florence Mus et al, Genetic determinants of ammonium excretion in nifL mutants of Azotobacter vinelandii, Applied and Environmental Microbiology (2022). DOI: 10.1128/AEM.01876-21

Journal information: Applied and Environmental Microbiology

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