A new plant technology that enables crops to signal nitrogen deficiency could help farmers determine when and where to apply fertiliser, potentially reducing excessive use and improving crop management.
A Professor of Plant Breeding and Genetics at Cornell University, Michael Gore, who made this known when he delivered the keynote address at the 9th International Plant Phenotyping Symposium (IPPS9) in Accra, said the discovery was important because nitrogen was the largest input expense for many growers, yet up to half of the fertiliser applied was wasted.
He explained that the excess was washed into the environment, causing what he described as an "environmental catastrophe", while fertiliser costs had risen sharply because of the Iran war.
The sentinel plants, he said, offered a solution by replacing slow and costly soil and tissue testing with real-time visual signals.
He indicated that covering as little as two to three per cent of a field with the plants could be enough to map nitrogen levels, allowing farmers to feed crops only where needed.
“For farmers, the technology could mean lower costs, better yields and more sustainable production,” he added.
Symposium
The five-day symposium, organised jointly by the International Plant Phenotyping Network (IPPN) and the West Africa Centre for Crop Improvement (WACCI), University of Ghana, is being held on the theme: “Phenotyping for All: Bridging the Gap in Global Agriculture.”
It brought together participants from Africa and other parts of the world, including plant scientists, breeders, engineers, computational scientists, researchers and students and focused on deploying advanced and practical plant phenotyping technologies to strengthen sustainable agriculture and global food security.
How it works
Prof. Gore said the technology uses specially developed “sentinel” plants that change colour when experiencing nitrogen stress, effectively turning the plants into living sensors capable of communicating their nutrient status to farmers.
He said the plants could detect nitrogen deprivation in the soil and transmit a signal from their roots to their shoots, triggering a visible colour change within 24 to 48 hours.
He explained that readings from the colour changes could be processed to determine variations in nitrogen levels across a field, enabling fertiliser to be applied more precisely rather than uniformly or excessively.
“You’re not having to apply or over-fertilise, which is the common practice in the US. That is the problem we have,” he said.
African-led solutions
The Founding Director of WACCI, Professor Eric Y. Danquah, called for a shift from Africa merely receiving agricultural technologies developed elsewhere to becoming a centre for scientific discovery and innovation.
He said the continent’s diversity of crops, environments and farming systems presented important opportunities for research, particularly as farmers confronted rising temperatures, uncertain rainfall, degraded soils and evolving pests and diseases.
“We cannot continue to accept blueprints from abroad. We need African solutions for African soil,” he said.
Prof. Danquah stressed that African scientists and institutions must help frame research questions, develop technologies and generate knowledge relevant to the continent’s agricultural realities.
Collaboration
The Primary Chair of the International Plant Phenotyping Network (IPPN), Dr Jennifer Clarke, said Africa was strategically important to the future of the global plant science community, making stronger partnerships across the continent essential.
She said the network was committed to making phenotyping more accessible and equitable through regional partnerships and the sharing of knowledge, resources and infrastructure.
Dr Clarke welcomed the launch of the African phenomics network, describing regional networks as central to how the IPPN operated.
She also emphasised developing young scientists, saying their active participation was critical to sustaining scientific excellence and building the expertise required to feed a growing population sustainably.
