The likely impact of the new-self-fertilizing-wheat

Scientists at University of California, Davis have used gene-editing (via CRISPR) to alter wheat so that it produces more of a naturally occurring compound, a flavone called apigenin. The excess apigenin is released by the plant’s roots into the soil. That chemical stimulates certain soil bacteria to form biofilms, enabling them to fix nitrogen from the air, converting atmospheric nitrogen into a form the plant can use.

In effect, this engineered wheat triggers a natural fertilization process, reducing its dependence on synthetic nitrogen fertilizers. Because the wheat helps generate its own usable nitrogen via soil bacteria, farmers may be able to cut back on applying chemical nitrogen fertilizers.

This, in turn, could lower one of the largest input costs in cereal farming, potentially saving farmers substantial sums. For example, UC Davis estimates that a relatively modest reduction in fertilizer use could translate into billions of dollars in savings across major cereal-growing regions.  

If offers the prospect of lower environmental impact and climate benefits because synthetic fertilizers are associated with substantial environmental issues; runoff into waterways can cause ‘dead zones,’ and excess nitrogen often becomes nitrous oxide, a potent greenhouse gas.

By reducing fertilizer use, self-fertilizing wheat could cut pollution, reduce greenhouse-gas emissions from fertilizer overuse, and lessen damage to ecosystems involving water quality and soil health. It offers improved yields under low-fertilizer or nutrient-poor conditions. In early experiments, the modified wheat produced higher yields than control plants even under very low external nitrogen fertilizer concentrations.

This suggests that self-fertilizing wheat could perform relatively well in soils with low fertility, which is particularly important in regions where fertilizer is expensive or difficult to access. The new wheat can boost food security, especially in developing regions. Because this wheat reduces reliance on expensive fertilizers and can grow well in lower-input conditions, it could make agriculture more viable in poorer regions. This could help improve crop reliability and yields for smallholder farms, a big step for regions with limited resources or where conventional fertilizers are too costly.

The new wheat offers a potential pathway to more sustainable, resilient agriculture. If adopted broadly, self-fertilizing cereals like this wheat could reduce pressure on fertilizer supply chains, such as the demand for synthetic fertilizers, and reduce environmental harm, as well as making farming more resilient to fluctuations in fertilizer cost or availability. It also opens the door to applying similar approaches to other major cereal crops, multiplying the broader impact for global food systems.

Given that cereals like wheat account for a huge share of global food production, and that nitrogen fertilizer use has major environmental and economic costs, a shift toward self-fertilizing cereals could be transformative. If successful, it could help feed the global population more sustainably, cut agricultural emissions, lower costs for farmers, and make agriculture more resilient in poorer or nutrient-poor regions.

It looks very much like a win-win, though the EU will almost certainly ban it because agriculture takes up roughly a quarter to a third of the EU budget.

Madsen Pirie