Jagdish Ladha’s new book outlines how improving nitrogen use efficiency can boost crop productivity, cut fertilizer costs and reduce environmental harm, combining global research insights with practical strategies for more sustainable farming.
Farmers can use a DIY test—requiring scissors and a garlic press—to check nitrogen levels in crops. This simple method helps boost yields and reduce fertilizer costs and pollution linked to nitrogen overuse.
Doctoral student Valentina Roel is testing compost-based fertilizers from food and yard waste as eco-friendly nitrogen alternatives. Early results show similar crop yields to synthetic fertilizers, offering climate and soil benefits.
UC Davis named Eduardo Blumwald a 2023 Innovator of the Year for his team’s gene-editing discovery that reduces fertilizer use in cereal crops like rice by enhancing nitrogen-fixing bacteria—cutting costs and pollution globally.
A multidisciplinary team from the University of California, Davis, the University of Wisconsin–Madison, and Mars, Incorporated has found that an indigenous corn variety can “fix nitrogen” from the atmosphere, avoiding the need for synthetic fertilizers.
