Novel biofertilisers for increased food security

氮是最常见的限制植物生长的养分，因此农民经常以化肥的形式施用氮来维持作物的生产力。但由于一系列前所未有的事件（俄罗斯入侵、供应链中断、COVID-19等），化肥价格现在比一年前贵了3-5倍，迫使农民减少施用。这将不可避免地降低它们的产量，并影响消费食品价格。此外，从天然气中生产氮肥是不可持续的，因为它消耗了全球2%的化石燃料，产生了2%的温室气体排放，从而**大大加剧了气候变暖**。更糟糕的是，高达70%的施用产品没有到达植物体内，这使得这个过程不仅效率极低，而且代价高昂：由此产生的环境（富营养化、土壤退化）和健康损害每年仅在英国就使农民损失7亿英镑，纳税人损失35亿英镑。与此同时，有机农民努力为他们的作物提供足够的氮，因此**遭受巨大的产量差距**（平均40%）。尽管国内需求不断增长，但这不利于有机农场的进一步转变。由于土地利用变化，间接导致温室气体排放，导致总体排放量大于传统农业（Smith et al, 2019）。总而言之，农民现在比以往任何时候都更迫切地想找到新的替代品。同样，室内植物饲料市场也需要更多的天然和可持续肥料。NouriSol开发的肥料利用了英国农民土壤中已经存在的微生物的力量：我们从他们的田地中分离出最有效的藻类，生产出缓释肥料，最大限度地减少养分流失到环境中。我们的藻类能够从大气中捕获氮和碳，并与其他关键营养物质（如磷、钾、硫等）一起与作物共享，从而进一步刺激植物生长，改善土壤健康。我们与30多名英国农民进行了交谈，我们在温室中获得的结果说服他们以合适的价格采用我们的产品。为了实现商业化并释放私人资金，该项目将：*在与农民的田间试验中验证我们现有的产品配方，与现有替代品进行比较或结合，*展示生产的可扩展性。

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. Similarly, the houseplant feed market is also demanding more natural and sustainable fertilisers. 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 algae are able to **capture both nitrogen and carbon from the atmosphere** and share them with crops along with other key nutrients (e.g. Phosphorus, Potassium, Sulfur, ...) that further stimulate plant growth, and improve soil health.We spoke to **30+ UK famers**, and our results obtained in greenhouses have convinced them to adopt our products at the right price. To reach commercialisation and unlock private funding, this project will:* Validate our existing product formulations in field trials with farmers, in comparison or combination with current alternatives,* Demonstrate manufacturing scalability.