Abstract

Nitrogen is an essential nutrient for plants and a significant component of proteins, which all animals need to grow, reproduce and survive. Nitrogen is often the nutrient that is limiting to increase crop production, despite Earth’s atmosphere containing more than 78 percent. This is because in the atmosphere, nitrogen largely exists in its unreactive N2 form, rather than in a reactive form which plants can utilize. There are a number of scientific and technological innovations which have allowed for rapid growth in crop productivity, particularly in the second half of the 20th century. None of these had a more dramatic impact than the ability to produce synthetic nitrogen fertiliser. In this context, Crop Intellect Ltd has invented a disruptive technology called R-Leaf that captures nitrogen oxides (NOx) pollution from the atmosphere and converts it to nitrates to feed plants. In principle, R-Leaf photocatalysts break down the nitrogen oxides to nitrate on the surface of the plants which is then absorbed as fertiliser. The authors have carried out field trials investigating R-Leaf sprayed (at 1L/ha) over an area of lawn at the University of Lincoln, UK. In accordance with the results of the completed investigations, it has been confirmed that the application of R-Leaf on the grass has helped to improve the crop yield by 13 -20%, which is corroborated with sap nitrate, leaf chlorophyll and growth measurements.

Keywords: itrogen; Fertilisers; Air pollution; R-Leaf; Photocatalysis; Crop yield