RII Track-2 FEC: Center for Climate Conscious Agricultural Technologies (CCAT)

需要气候友好型和可持续的作物营养解决方案来促进农村农场的经济和环境可持续性。微生物肥料是生产成本高、造成温室气体排放、富营养化、对人类和环境健康不利并具有不利社会经济影响的合成肥料的一种易于采用的替代品。气候意识农业技术中心（CCAT）与南达科他州立大学、北达科他州立大学、南达科他州矿业与技术学院和坐牛学院的研究人员建立了新的合作伙伴关系，将促进达科他州的多学科研究，开发微生物肥料，用于成功的作物养分管理，并与美国土著保留地和达科他州服务不足地区的作物生产者合作，采用这种气候友好型技术。该中心将增加新的课程材料，并在课堂上引入跨学科研究，从而使K-12教育、本科教育和研究生教育受益。该项目的劳动力发展活动将协同帮助(i)为学生建立一条从教育到劳动力的管道，（ii）为工业、研究中心、政府机构和学术界的职业提供多学科培训，以及（iii）加强参与机构的早期职业专业人员的研究能力和技术专长。谷类作物氮的主要来源是添加氨和/或硝酸盐肥料。然而，持续使用化肥来增加粮食产量是不可持续的，因为它们消耗了世界上近1%的能源，并产生了3-5%的温室气体。气候意识农业技术中心（CCAT）旨在通过采用微生物生物肥料作为替代方案，减轻化学肥料生产对气候变化的影响。通过利用基因组学信息，CCAT团队开发了新的基于适配体的鉴定和分离，从当地相关土壤和作物样本中获得具有固氮、固碳和溶磷能力的共生微生物群落。该研究将筛选根际细菌对磷的溶解作用、矿物溶解作用和N2/CO2固定作用，开发大规模生产和封装合成联合体的方法，评估田间条件下温室气体排放的建立和减少，并建立环境和经济可行性模型。我们将与农村弱势社区的生产者合作，确定偏好，提高他们使用微生物肥料的能力，提高农场盈利能力。该项目将建立一支蓬勃发展的团队，为作物营养提供一系列气候友好型解决方案，培养一支装备精良、面向未来的劳动力队伍，并对达科他州农村地区的社会经济增长产生积极影响。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Climate-friendly and sustainable crop nutrition solutions are required to boost rural farms' economic and environmental sustainability. Microbial fertilizers offer an easily adoptable alternative to synthetic fertilizers that have high production costs, contribute to greenhouse gas emissions, eutrophication, negative human and environmental health, and have adverse socio-economic impacts. The Center for Climate-Conscious Agricultural Technologies (CCAT), in a new partnership with researchers from South Dakota State University, North Dakota State University, the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, and Sitting Bull College, will stimulate multidisciplinary research in the Dakotas to develop microbial fertilizers for successful crop nutrient management and collaborate with crop producers in Native American reservations and underserved parts of the Dakotas on adoption of such climate-friendly technologies. The center will benefit K-12, undergraduate education, and graduate education by adding new course materials and introducing interdisciplinary research in classrooms. The project’s workforce development activities will synergistically aid (i) establishing an education-to-workforce pipeline for students, (ii) providing multidisciplinary training for careers in industry, research centers, government agencies, and academia, and (iii) strengthening research capability and technical expertise of early career professionals in the participating institutions. The primary source of nitrogen for cereal crops is the addition of ammonia and or nitrate fertilizer. However, the continuous use of chemical fertilizers to increase food production is unsustainable as they consume nearly 1% of the world’s energy and contribute to 3-5% of greenhouse gas production. The Center for Climate-Conscious Agricultural Technologies (CCAT) aims to mitigate the effects of chemical fertilizers production on climate change by adopting microbial biofertilizers as an alternative. By leveraging genomics information, the CCAT team develops novel aptamer-based identification and isolation to obtain co-habituating consortia of microbes with nitrogen-fixing, carbon-fixing, and phosphorous-solubilizing capabilities from local relevant soil and crop samples. The research will screen bacteria in the rhizosphere for P solubilization, mineral dissolution, and N2/CO2 fixation, develop methods for mass production and encapsulation of synthetic consortia, evaluate the establishment and reduction of greenhouse gas emissions under field conditions, and model environmental and economic feasibility. We will collaborate with producers from rural disadvantaged communities to determine preferences and enhance their ability to implement microbial fertilizers and increase farm profitability. The project will build a thriving team that will contribute to a continuum of climate-friendly solutions for crop nutrition, develop a well-equipped future-ready workforce, and positively impact the socio-economic growth of rural Dakotas.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.