World population is likely to double by the year 2050 from the present 5 billion. India will also displace China as the most populated country in this century. Such an increased population requires application of 160 million tons of nitrogen year to meet their food needs. This means production of synthetic fertilizers needs to stepped, implying that 270 million tons of coal equivalents of energy will be used to produce this amount of fertilizer. Such a method will release more carbon than we can handle to the atmosphere.

One of the clean technologies to increase availability of nitrogen to the plants is Bio Fixation of Nitrogen. This is achieved by converting the atmospheric nitrogen into ammonia, through enzyme called nitrogenase aided by microorganisms called diazotrophs that help in fixing the nitrogen. There is an urgent need to reduce the cost of farm inputs, increase productivity and grow more vegetation as bio fuel that will ease the pressure on crude oil prices by reducing the demand to manageable levels and reduce the draw of crude oil from earth preserving the supplies for that many more years as possible. Studies have shown that 50% of the chemical fertilizers when applied to earth for cultivating the plants are absorbed and the balance is either leached to water sources as various oxides of nitrogen or escapes to atmosphere as gases, known for their heat trapping properties. Researches in to Bio fixation of Nitrogen are likely to give viable solutions that shall preserve the present energy balance, polluting the natural sources least as these technologies involve organisms, accelerating naturally occurring processes to enable higher ingestion of nitrogen in the soil.

In plant protein synthesis takes place using nitrogen as feed helped by various bacteria present in the cultivating soil. These plants also known as legumes have rhizobia stored within the nodules mainly within on the root and in few cases in the stem. There are more than 13000 species of legumes of which it is estimated 3000 have been examined. It is estimated that about 20% of the food protein world wide are derived from legumes especially in countries such as Russia, erstwhile states of Soviet Union, Central America, Mexico, India, Turkey and Greece. The amount of nitrogen fixation that occurs in a year is estimated 100-175 million metric tons of which 100 million tons are contributed by the fertilizer nitrogen obtained through Haber-Bosch process in the industry, involving higher use fossil fuel. Lightening is expected to fix around 10 million tons of nitrogen the balance being contributed by the micro=organisms. The symbiotic nitrogen fixation that occurs in the plants requires application phosphorous, deficient nutrients and lime to alleviate the soil acidity.

Cultivators can increase the soil quality by recycling the animal and human waste to return back to the soil preserving the soil nutrients. At present such recycling is estimated to cover 25% of the animal waste alone.

What are challenges and avenues for investment?

Cereal plants require nitrogen supplements to get more productivity. The legumes on the other hand are self sustaining as they have inherent nitrogen fixing ability. Researchers are trying to isolate the genes that give the legumes ability to store and support the energy intensive nitrogen fixing activity. Microorganisms require 12 grams of glucose to support fixation of 1 gram of nitrogen to ammonia. The blue green algae azolla in association with aquatic fern Anabaena Azollae has the potential to fix nitrogen in paddy but needs improvements in production and efficient use. Further the researchers are also trying to understand the nitrogen fixing taking place in wood plants such as casuarinas and alders that fix nitrogen symbiotically. In all such researches it is inhibiting and release of hydrogen at such stages as may be necessary by the controlled chemical reaction facilitated by the genes that holds the key.

Apart from the generic research it is in the evolving of improved agricultural practices especially those directed to ensure sustainable agriculture the hope for feeding the millions as well as keeping the ecology clean investments needs to be made. Intercropping of legumes or crop rotation especially paddy and sugarcane are other successful practices that needs to be encouraged.

No doubt the bio technology firms are likely to benefit from this dire need to reduce carbon emission, reduce dependence on the fossil fuel and increase agricultural output to sustain the growing population.

Investors may well explore such bio tech firms that have taken up research in producing bio fuels, improved farm practices and fixation of nitrogen especially in paddy (remember 50% of the world population eat rice) to gain from the crisis that is looming large at us.