Science & Tech · Science & Environment · 3 hrs ago
Minnesota farmers use bacteria to cut corn fertilizer without lowering yields
Some farmers in Minnesota are using live bacteria instead of chemical fertilizer to grow corn.
On a field of about 8 square kilometers, the microbial fertilizer cut the nitrogen supplied by chemical fertilizer by about 36 tonnes.
The corn harvest did not fall.
Chemical fertilizer can be washed away by rain, while bacteria on the roots keep supplying nitrogen even during heavy rain.
This could let farmers use less chemical fertilizer without reducing yields.
The example involves some Minnesota farms, not a wider change across agriculture.
Some Minnesota farmers used living bacteria instead of chemical fertilizer on corn.
The microbial fertilizer cut nitrogen supplied by conventional fertilizer by about 36 tonnes across roughly 8 square kilometres of cornfields.
Corn yields did not decline after chemical fertilizer use was reduced.
The bacteria settled on crop roots and continued supplying nitrogen during heavy rain.
Unlike the bacteria, chemical fertilizer can be washed away by rainwater.
- Who
- Some farmers in Minnesota.
- What
- They used living bacteria to reduce chemical fertilizer for corn without lowering yields.
- When
- Not stated.
- Where
- Minnesota, United States; the trial covered roughly 8 square kilometres of cornfields.
- Why
- Bacteria on crop roots continued supplying nitrogen during heavy rain, while chemical fertilizer can be washed away.
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- Location
- Minnesota, United States
- Crop area
- Roughly 8 square kilometres
- Nitrogen reduction
- About 36 tonnes
- Yield
- No decline after chemical fertilizer use was reduced