These proceedings bring together diverse disciplines that study nitrogen fixation and describe the most recent advances made in various fields: chemists are now studying FeMoco, the active site of nitrogenase in non-protein surroundings, and have refined the crystal structure of the enzyme to 1.6 angstroms.
This book presents the science, application, and politics of the use of nitrogen-fixing crop plants across the globe in various environments. Nitrogen fixation can help provide a growing population with a nutritious, environmentally friendly, sustainable food supply. From new "omics" approaches to the role of nitrogen fixation in mitigating greenhouse gas emissions, from farming strategies in nonindustrialized nations to nitrogen fixation in the global economy, scientists will find the key issues and expanding research areas, and how they contribute to the next wave of advancements related to agriculture and the environment
In the tradition of Jared Diamond's Guns, Germs, and Steel, this gives the very early history of how human ingenuity overcame the risk of famine through productive agriculture. Starting with a layman's guide to the chemistry of nitrogen fixation, the book goes on to show how humans emerged from nomadic lifestyles and began developing towns and settlements. When they for the first time began planting the same fields year after year, they noticed quickly the need to ensure soil fertility. But how? The method they came up with is still in use to this day.
The International Workshop on Biological Nitrogen Fixation for Increased Crop Productivity, Enhanced Human Health and Sustained Soil Fertility was held in June 2002 at ENSAM-INRA, Montpellier, France. The main goal of the workshop was to define research strategies for a Challenge Program initiative on Biological Nitrogen Fixation, and develop a pre-proposal based on the concept note submitted and approved by the CGIAR iSC. More than 35 participants from various scientific disciplines, research institutions and from four different continents (Africa, Asia, Americas and Europe) attended the workshop. This book, based on the proceedings of the workshop, takes a holistic approach to harnessing legume BNF technologies, starting from a socioeconomic perspective, and progressing to agronomic and genetic options, and bringing together innovative aspects and participatory research strategies.
Poverty is a severe problem in Africa, Asia, South America and even in pockets of the developed world. Addressing poverty alleviation via the expanded use of biological nitrogen fixation in agriculture was the theme of the 15th International Congress on Nitrogen Fixation. Because nitrogen-fixation research is multidisciplinary, exploiting its benefits for agriculture and environmental protection has continued to attract research by diverse groups of scientists, including chemists, biochemists, plant physiologists, evolutionary biologists, ecologists, agricultural scientists, extension agents, and inoculant producers. The 15th International Congress on Nitrogen Fixation was held jointly with the 12th International Conference of the African Association for Biological Nitrogen Fixation. This joint Congress was hosted in South Africa at the Cape Town International Conv- tion Centre, 21–26 January 2007, and was attended by about 200 registered participants from 41 countries world-wide. During the Congress, some 100 oral and approximately 80 poster papers were presented. The wide range of topics covered and the theme of the Congress justifies this book’s title, Nitrogen Fixation: Applications to Poverty Alleviation.
Sustainability has a major part to play in the global challenge of continued development of regions, countries, and continents all around the World and biological nitrogen fixation has a key role in this process. This volume begins with chapters specifically addressing crops of major global importance, such as soybeans, rice, and sugar cane. It continues with a second important focus, agroforestry, and describes the use and promise of both legume trees with their rhizobial symbionts and other nitrogen-fixing trees with their actinorhizal colonization. An over-arching theme of all chapters is the interaction of the plants and trees with microbes and this theme allows other aspects of soil microbiology, such as interactions with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi and the impact of soil-stress factors on biological nitrogen fixation, to be addressed. Furthermore, a link to basic science occurs through the inclusion of chapters describing the biogeochemically important nitrogen cycle and its key relationships among nitrogen fixation, nitrification, and denitrification. The volume then provides an up-to-date view of the production of microbial inocula, especially those for legume crops.
The 14th International Nitrogen Fixation Congress was held in Beijing, China from October 27th through November 1st, 2004. This volume constitutes the proceedings of the Congress and represents a compilation of the presentations by scientists from more than 30 countries around the World who came to Beijing to discuss the progress made since the last Congress and to exchange ideas and information. This year marked the 30th anniversary of the first Congress held in Pullman, Washington, USA, in 1974. Since then, this series of Congresses has met five times in North America (three in the United States and once each in Canada and Mexico), once in South America (Brazil), four times in Western Europe (once each in Spain, The Netherlands, Germany and France), once in Eastern Europe (Russia), and once in Australia; and now for the first time in Asia. China was a most appropriate choice because China is a big country with the largest population in the World, about 1. 3 billion people, which is about 22% of the World’s population. It is traditionally an agricultural country, even though China has only 7% of the available farming land. This situation explains why agriculture and its productivity are major issues for the Chinese people, its government and the scientists in the field.
Nitrogen fixation research is presented as a rapidly developing, synergistic area of modern science, using the methods of, and accumulating data from, many fundamental branches of biology and chemistry. These include catalytic mechanisms, protein structure and function, molecular organization of genes and the regulation of their activities, biochemistry of plants and microorganisms, the signalling and surface interactions between organisms, microbial taxonomy and evolution, formal and population genetics, and ecology. The relationships between biological nitrogen fixation research and different branches of applied biology are addressed and analyzed, such as: the monitoring of genetically engineered microorganisms, selection of plant-associated microbes, plant breeding, increasing the protein content of crops, providing ecologically safe food production, and diminishing the chemical pollution of the environment. Immediate impacts and long-term prospects for nitrogen fixation research are presented: both fundamentals and applications.
Biological nitrogen fixation (BNF), the process by which gaseous N2 is converted into ammonia (NH3) via the enzyme nitrogenase, is crucial for the availability of nitrogen (N) in the terrestrial ecosystem. Some bacteria have the remarkable capacity to fix atmospheric nitrogen to ammonia under ambient conditions, a reaction only mimicked on an industrial scale by a chemical process. This microbiological process converts atmospheric nitrogen into a plant-usable form, thus decreasing the need to use chemical fertilizers in crop production. Chapters in this volume cover different aspects of this fantastic phenomenon, including biofertilizer, organic nitrogen in agricultural systems, nitrogen fertilization for sustainable crop production, and others. This book is designed for researchers, students and general readers.
Incorporating contributions from microbiologists, molecular biologists, plant breeders and soil scientists this volume reports the results and recommendations of an FAO/IAEA meeting of twelve experts on biological nitrogen fixation. This volume will be invaluable to scientists working on nitrogen fixation, soil microbiology, agronomy and crop production as well as farm advisers and extension specialists. Maximising the Use of Biological Nitrogen Fixation in Agriculture is unique in that it: -reviews the latest thinking on various aspects of biological nitrogen fixation technology and applications; -reviews the possibilities in enhancing nitrogen fixation in various cropping systems; -shows ways how biological nitrogen fixation can be used to enhance crop production; -considers the applicability of these technologies to small farmers in developing countries.
