Grown for centuries by indigenous farmers in rural Mexico, this incredibly rare corn can self-fertilise. In episode three of 'Planet Fix', we explore how this wonder crop could help tackle world hunger, and even end farming's toxic reliance on chemical fertilisers for good! Best of Earth Lab: http://bit.ly/EarthLabOriginals Best of BBC Earth: http://bit.ly/TheBestOfBBCEarthVideos #Maize #PlanetFix This is a channel from BBC Studios who help fund new BBC programmes. Service information and feedback: http://bbcworldwide.com/vod-feedback--contact-details.aspx

tl;dw: There is a type of maize in Latin America that can self fertilize and nitrogen fix itself. Though a lot of this is popsci nonsense, they have been hybridizing it to a lot of success

  • Awoo [she/her]
    ·
    1 year ago

    I'm not saying we shouldn't. We obviously need food. I'm just curious what the actual impact is and how that would scale with all crops in the world. I'm certain there would be an impact and that something else would be needed to mitigate that impact.

    • wryso [none/use name]
      ·
      1 year ago

      Well, no, nitrogen leaving the atmosphere is just not a concern. Biomass of all plants: 500 billion tons. Biomass of all human crops: 10 billion tons. Nitrogen’s share of plant mass: 3-4%, or 400 million tons. Mass of the atmosphere: 5.5 quadrillion tons. And most of the atmosphere is nitrogen.

      • Awoo [she/her]
        ·
        1 year ago

        Huh, neat. So it'll take a few years then.