Grain production, including corn production, in the United States is highly efficient in terms of labor, cost and land, yet generates massive nitrogen losses that end up in our waterways and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions that contribute to climate change, while costing farmers money. The Foundation for Food & Agriculture Research (FFAR) is providing a $4,500,000 grant to CERCA (Circular Economy that Reimagines Corn Agriculture), a project led by the U.S. Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service (USDA-ARS), along with 13 university research partners, to transform corn production toward a goal of nitrogen circularity by developing corn genetics that both recycle nutrients to decrease fertilizer use and tolerate colder temperatures, so corn can be planted earlier in the growing season when soil nitrogen is plentiful.
The Grantham Foundation for the Protection of the Environment provided matching funds for nutrient recycling research, and Bayer, Corteva, GoogleX, KWS and Limagrain Field Seeds provided matching funds for cold tolerance research, for a total investment of $9,000,000 across 10 universities. USDA-ARS has additionally invested $6,800,000 to support its nine locations partnering with this research. The Salk Institute for Biological Studies Harnessing Plants Initiative is collaborating with the group on integrating basic research and soil carbon work.
“Reducing fertilizer inputs not only lessens the environmental impact of agriculture but also puts money back in the pockets of farmers,” said Dr. Kathy Munkvold, FFAR scientific program director. “By redesigning nitrogen utilization in corn production systems, this grant is paving the way for a new era in efficient and sustainable crop production.”
While corn is an efficient starch producer, the protein it produces is of low nutritional quality and, for many of the harvested crop’s uses, not needed. However, this protein requires tremendous fertilizer inputs to produce. The CERCA project, led by Dr. Edward Buckler, is using a combination of modeling, genetics, physiology and agronomy to reduce fertilizer needs while maximizing starch yields by optimizing the plant’s ability to recycle nitrogen. To achieve these goals, the researchers are focusing on two strategies – the first taps into the higher level of natural soil nitrogen and light available in spring, and the second reduces the protein in corn grain, which lowers nitrogen demand and provides an opportunity for the plant to return nitrogen to the soil for the next season.
For the crop to use the natural nitrogen available in spring, it needs to be planted a few weeks to a month earlier than it currently is, but this risks damage from frost and cold temperatures. Corn and its wild relatives have genetic variation that can allow cold tolerance, and this project is finding and testing this variation to enable earlier planting, which would have additional benefits to yield and planting and harvesting flexibility. In addition, the project also aims to reduce the low nutritional quality protein in corn and foster the plant’s ability to return unused nitrogen to the soil at the end of the season by tapping into the genetics found in corn’s perennial relatives. Overall, the aim is to reduce nitrogen losses by over 50%, which would reduce fertilizer requirements, water pollution and GHG emissions by similar levels or more.
“Millions of years of evolution, 10,000 years of domestication and breeding and a century of developing efficient farms have made corn into the most productive starch crop in the world,” said Dr. Buckler. “With this amazing team, we are hoping to kick off a second revolution in corn research, and then production, that addresses its environmental impact and makes it even more efficient for farmers.”
The cold tolerance research is funded in part through FFAR’s Crops of the Future Collaborative.
The Circular Economy That Reimagines Corn Agriculture grant page includes more information about this project.
Foundation for Food & Agriculture Research news release
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