Good news for farmers and gardeners. Until now, plants have gotten all their nitrogen from the soil, even though there is abundant nitrogen in the air (I wonder how evolution got that one wrong). The use of nitrogen based fertilizers has not been without controversy because they are a huge source of pollution when they wash out of fields and enter watersheds.Prof. Edward Cocking of the University of Nottingham has developed a nitrogen-fixing bacteria, dubbed N-Fix, that enters through a plant's roots, and then ends up in every cell of the plant, making it possible to use atmospheric nitrogen.
“Helping plants to naturally obtain the nitrogen they need is a key aspect of World Food Security,” says Cocking. “The world needs to unhook itself from its ever increasing reliance on synthetic nitrogen fertilizers produced from fossil fuels with its high economic costs, its pollution of the environment and its high energy costs.”
N-Fix has been in development for 10 years and now has been licensed to Azotic Technologies for commercial production. It is expected to be available worldwide within three years.
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