Commercial exploitation of novel biofertilisers for increased soil health

新型生物肥料的商业开发以改善土壤健康

• 批准号: 10054609
• 金额: $ 6.37万
• 依托单位: NOURISOL LIMITED
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Grant for R&D
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2023 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=10054609
• 关键词: Commercial; exploitation; novel; biofertilisers; increased

Nitrogen is the most frequently limiting nutrient for plant growth, so farmers regularly apply it in the form of chemical fertilisers to sustain crop productivity.But fertiliser prices are now **3-5x more expensive** than a year ago, because of a series of events never seen before (Russian invasion, supply chain disruption, COVID-19, ...), forcing farmers to cut back down application. This will inevitably lower their outputs, and impact consumer food prices.Plus, the production of nitrogen fertilisers, from natural gas, is unsustainable as it globally consumes 2% of fossil fuels and generates 2% of greenhouse gas emissions, thereby substantially contributing to climate warming.Even worse, up to 70% of the applied product does not reach the plants, making this process not only highly ineffective but also costly: the resulting environmental (eutrophication, soil degradation) and health damages cost farmers £0.7bn per year and tax-payers £3.5 billion per year in the UK alone.Meanwhile, organic farmers struggle to provide sufficient nitrogen to their crops and consequently suffer a substantial yield gap (40% on average) that:1\. Dis-incentivises further organic farm conversion despite a growing domestic demand2\. Indirectly causes greenhouse gas emissions due to land use change, resulting in overall greater emissions than conventional farming (Smith et al, 2019).All in all, farmers are now, more than ever, **desperate to find new alternatives**.NouriSol develops fertilisers that harness the power of microorganisms already present in UK farmers' soils: we isolate the most efficient algae from their fields to produce slow-release fertilisers that minimise nutrient loss into the environment.Our products capture both nitrogen and carbon from the atmosphere. We already know that it can replace both organic and chemical fertilisers.Now, we have identified a new opportunity to market our product for improvement of soil health. Importantly, this can be achieved at a lower dosage, thereby as the **cost will be more palatable to customers**. This study will provide critical data to rationally optimise our product and adapt our marketing for this new commercial opportunity. Implementation of the new strategy would also contribute to improving UK soil health, estimated to cost £1.2bn/year and, a key challenge to future UK food self-sufficiency.

氮是植物生长的最常限制营养素，因此，农民会定期以化学肥料的形式应用它来维持作物生产力。但是，由于一系列事件，肥料价格现在** 3-5x贵**，因为俄罗斯以前从未见过（俄罗斯入侵，入侵，供应链中断，供应链中断，COVID 19，COVID 19，...），迫使往后的农民。这将不可避免地降低其产出，并影响消费者的食品价格。此外，氮肥的产生，来自天然气，是不可持续的，因为它在全球范围内消耗了2％的化石燃料，并产生了温室气体排放的2％，从而使气候变暖却不高，但不可能造成70％的效果。由此产生的环境（富营养化，土壤退化）和健康损害损失每年70亿英镑，仅在英国，每年35亿英镑的纳税人付出了35亿英镑。有机农民努力为其农作物提供足够的氮，因此遭受了很大的收益率（平均为40％）：1 \。在国内需求不断增长的情况下，进一步的有机农场转换目的地2 \。间接导致由于土地利用的变化而引起的温室气体排放，总体上的排放量比传统的耕作更大（Smith等，2019）。总的来说，现在，农民比以往任何时候都更加多，**迫切希望找到新的替代品**。努利氏菌会发展出在英国农民中产生的良好势力的良好的生产力：我们的土壤富有效率：我们的土壤有效：我们的土壤有效，我们的土壤是我们的，我们的土壤是众所周知的，我们的土壤是我们的，我们的土壤是有效的。将营养损失降至环境的肥料。我们的产品从大气中捕获了氮和碳。我们已经知道它可以替代有机和化学肥料。现在，我们已经确定了一种新的机会来推销我们的产品以改善土壤健康。重要的是，这可以以较低的剂量来实现，因此**成本对客户来说更可口**。这项研究将提供关键的数据，以合理地优化我们的产品，并将营销适应这个新的商业机会。新战略的实施也将有助于改善英国土壤健康，估计每年成本为12亿英镑，这是对未来英国粮食自给自足的关键挑战。