NSF Award
2316502
Climate-friendly and sustainable crop nutrition solutions are required to boost rural farms' economic and environmental sustainability. Microbial fertilizers offer an easily adoptable alternative to synthetic fertilizers that have high production costs, contribute to greenhouse gas emissions, eutrophication, negative human and environmental health, and have adverse socio-economic impacts. The Center for Climate-Conscious Agricultural Technologies (CCAT), in a new partnership with researchers from South Dakota State University, North Dakota State University, the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, and Sitting Bull College, will stimulate multidisciplinary research in the Dakotas to develop microbial fertilizers for successful crop nutrient management and collaborate with crop producers in Native American reservations and underserved parts of the Dakotas on adoption of such climate-friendly technologies. The center will benefit K-12, undergraduate education, and graduate education by adding new course materials and introducing interdisciplinary research in classrooms. The project’s workforce development activities will synergistically aid (i) establishing an education-to-workforce pipeline for students, (ii) providing multidisciplinary training for careers in industry, research centers, government agencies, and academia, and (iii) strengthening research capability and technical expertise of early career professionals in the participating institutions. <br/><br/>The primary source of nitrogen for cereal crops is the addition of ammonia and or nitrate fertilizer. However, the continuous use of chemical fertilizers to increase food production is unsustainable as they consume nearly 1% of the world’s energy and contribute to 3-5% of greenhouse gas production. The Center for Climate-Conscious Agricultural Technologies (CCAT) aims to mitigate the effects of chemical fertilizers production on climate change by adopting microbial biofertilizers as an alternative. By leveraging genomics information, the CCAT team develops novel aptamer-based identification and isolation to obtain co-habituating consortia of microbes with nitrogen-fixing, carbon-fixing, and phosphorous-solubilizing capabilities from local relevant soil and crop samples. The research will screen bacteria in the rhizosphere for P solubilization, mineral dissolution, and N2/CO2 fixation, develop methods for mass production and encapsulation of synthetic consortia, evaluate the establishment and reduction of greenhouse gas emissions under field conditions, and model environmental and economic feasibility. We will collaborate with producers from rural disadvantaged communities to determine preferences and enhance their ability to implement microbial fertilizers and increase farm profitability. The project will build a thriving team that will contribute to a continuum of climate-friendly solutions for crop nutrition, develop a well-equipped future-ready workforce, and positively impact the socio-economic growth of rural Dakotas.<br/><br/>This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.
