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One avenue to explore would be genetically engineering strains of corn, rice, and wheat that have nitrogen-fixing bacteria. This would have the impact of reduci
by afarrell 11y ago
One avenue to explore would be genetically engineering strains of corn, rice, and wheat that have nitrogen-fixing bacteria. This would have the impact of reducing the vast quantities of fossil fuel we spend on the Haber-Bosch process and also free poor farmers from having to spend money on artificial fertilizer.
I am however utterly ignorant of the difficulty of doing this. I doubt this research would be funded by Monsanto or other companies which sell artificial fertilizer.
- danieltillett 11y ago>I am however utterly ignorant of the difficulty of doing this. It is very difficult since the symbiotic relationship needed is difficult to recreate - it is not just a matter of introducing a few new genes. Even doing this would not avoid the need for the Haber-Bosch process. The symbiotic bacteria just can’t produce the amount of organic nitrogen that we need to get into modern crops to have them produce at the level we need to feed everyone. Even crops like legumes which have the symbiotic bacteria are supplied with artificial nitrogen when grown under modern agricultural conditions.