Grant: Collaborative Research and Development Grants

The use of large quantities of nitrogen fertilizer in crop agriculture leads to significant environmental and economic costs. The majority of the nitrogen from these fertilizers (approximately 70%) is lost. Much of this becomes runoff into surface and ground waters. In addition, nitrogenous fertilizer are responsible for the production of significant levels of N2O and NO into the atmosphere, with agricultural soils being responsible for approximately 70% of the NOx produced in Canada. These compounds contribute significantly to greenhouse gases and the formation of acid rain. Finally, nitrogen fertilizer is currently the most expensive input costs for Canadian cereal crop growers and given that this cost is largely based on the cost of energy, it will likely increase in future years.The focus of this proposal is to study and develop nitrogen use efficiency cereal crops with the initial focus being on using rice as a model system and then generating barley and wheat lines (in collaboration with our partners), which use nitrogen fertilizer more efficiently. This would allow for a decreased waste of nitrogen fertilizer which would enhance both the economic and environmental sustainability of crop production. We are using rice as a model system due to the genetic and genomic tools available for this species, its ease of transformation and because of our experience with this crop. Any gene constructs that have a positive phenotypic effect will then be transformed into barley and wheat and the resulting lines analyzed for improved nitrogen use efficiency. Ultimately, the hope is that this research will not only result in higher profits for producers (by decreasing farmer input costs) but will also decrease the environmental footprint of crop agriculture.