Grant: Alliance Grants

The partnership for "Nature-based alternatives to reduce Canada's fertilizer emissions" will increase the potential end use of our research on sustainable agricultural practices to improve fertilizer use efficiency, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, improve soil health and increase yields by providing additional nutrients to crops. This partnership will transform our fundamental understanding of nutrient cycling, biogeochemical processes, microbial ecology and soil health indicators into technical and applied knowledge through our partnership with V6 Agronomy. We will focus on conducting on-farm research trials using Canadian-sourced materials to improve nutrient use efficiency and encourage the adoption of low, and negative-emission approaches through knowledge and technology transfer activities facilitated by our not-for-profit sector partner, the Ontario Soil and Crop Improvement Association. Our specific research objectives are to develop lab-scale experiments to optimize novel fertilizer compound formulations and evaluate their efficiency; deploy a farm-scale study to assess the technology readiness levels of these novel inputs; and evaluate the benefits of novel products for crops in terms of nutrient delivery, crop productivity, and impacts on soil health and the soil microbiome. The potential outcomes of this partnership will support a more economically and ecologically resilient Canadian agriculture sector; the capacity to develop novel nutrient alternatives and produce these materials within Canada will help address the risk of supply chain disruptions and unreliable quality of fertilizers produced offshore.