à£à£Ö±²¥Ðã

Introduction

South à£à£Ö±²¥Ðã State University and its partners, South à£à£Ö±²¥Ðã School of Mines and Technology (SD Mines), North à£à£Ö±²¥Ðã State University and Sitting Bull College, received an NSF EPSCoR Research Infrastructure Improvement (RII) Track-2 award (OIA-2316502) effective August 1, 2023. The award is titled CCAT (Center for Climate Conscious Agricultural Technologies). The project develops biobased and self-feeding biofertilizers using a consortium of microbes for crop nutrition in an environment-friendly manner.

Overall purpose

The overarching research goal of the CCAT project is to mitigate the harmful effects of chemical fertilizers used for crop production by adopting microbial (bacteria-based) biofertilizers as an alternative. The project envisions a future where greenhouse gas mitigating strategies are adaptable and acceptable to stakeholders and paves the way for future generations to benefit from participation in the targeted activities. The outcome will significantly improve environmental health and socioeconomic profitability, offering a promising future for all.

Project Description

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 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 3-5% of greenhouse gas production. The 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. The center will stimulate multidisciplinary research in the à£à£Ö±²¥Ðãs to develop microbial fertilizers for successful crop nutrient management and collaborate with crop producers in Native American reservations and underserved parts of the à£à£Ö±²¥Ðãs on adoption of such climate-friendly technologies. It 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 à£à£Ö±²¥Ðãs.

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.