Agriculture Heading For Its Biggest Breakthrough After The Green Revolution
Scientists across the world are developing crops that can meet their own nitrogen needs, much like some plants already do in nature.
Published : January 29, 2026 at 6:31 AM IST
Nitrogen, central to life as part of nucleic acids like DNA and RNA and the proteins, always meant something special to the farmer as a fertiliser. Without nitrogen, crops do not grow well. Leaves turn pale, yields fall, and incomes suffer. That is why modern agriculture across the world, post Green Revolution in India, depends so heavily on nitrogen fertilisers like urea. But here is the irony. We know nitrogen is everywhere around us. Nearly 78 per cent of the air we breathe is nitrogen. Yet, most crops cannot use it. The crops depend on fertilisers made in factories, using huge amounts of energy and money. Now, science is offering a radical new possibility, learning from nature, and adopting a multidisciplinary approach. What if crops could take nitrogen directly from the air and feed themselves? This idea, once considered impossible, is now becoming a reality. Scientists across the world are developing crops that can meet their own nitrogen needs, much like some plants already do in nature. Many experts believe this could be the biggest change in agriculture since the Green Revolution.
Why Nitrogen Matters So Much?
Nitrogen is essential for plant growth. It is a key part of nucleic acids, proteins, chlorophyll, and enzymes. Without enough nitrogen, crops simply cannot produce good yields. To solve this problem, modern agriculture turned to chemical fertilisers. Over the last 60–70 years, fertilisers have helped increase food production and prevent hunger. But this success has come at a cost.
Heavy use of nitrogen fertilisers has led to pollution of rivers and groundwater, damage to soil health, rising production costs for farmers, and even the emission of greenhouse gases that worsen climate change. Globally, agriculture uses nearly 200 million tonnes of nitrogen fertiliser every year. Producing this fertiliser consumes large amounts of fossil fuel and releases massive quantities of carbon dioxide. This has forced scientists to ask a fundamental question: Can agriculture reduce its dependence on chemical fertilisers without reducing yields?
Nature Already Knows the Answer
Interestingly, nature partly solved this problem long ago. Some of the legume crops, such as groundnut, chickpea, lentil, soybean, and pulses, do not need much of the external nitrogen fertiliser. They can grow well even in nitrogen-poor soils. Nature’s secret lies underground. These legume plants form variously shaped small swellings on their roots, called ‘root nodules’. Inside these nodules live friendly nitrogen-fixing bacteria. These bacteria take nitrogen from the air and convert it into a form like ammonia that the plant can use. In return, the plant supplies food to the bacteria. This natural partnership, known as ‘Symbiosis’, has been known for more than a century. Since then, one question has refused to go away: If legumes can do this, why can’t major crops like rice, wheat, and maize do the same?
It Took 100 Years to Answer
For several decades, scientists tried and failed to transfer nitrogen fixation ability, through symbiotic partnership between bacteria and legumes, to non-legume crops. The process appeared too complex. The interaction between plants and bacteria seemed ‘highly specialised’. The breakthrough came only in recent years, thanks to advances in plant biology, genetics, and computing. Researchers discovered something surprising. The root nodules seen in legumes are not completely new structures. They are closely related to the normal side roots that all plants produce. In simple terms, plants already have most of the machinery needed. They just do not use it for nitrogen fixation. This insight changed everything. It meant that crops like rice and wheat were not missing the foundation. They were missing the instructions.
Learning From Evolution
Further research into plant evolution revealed another important clue. Scientists compared plants that form nitrogen-fixing nodules with closely related plants that do not. What they found was striking. Many non-nodulating plants seem to have lost key genes over time rather than never having them at all. This suggests that the ability to form nitrogen-fixing partnerships may have appeared once in plant evolution and was later lost in many species. In other words, nature had already done the hard work. Science only needed to help plants relearn an old skill.
The Dutch Lead the Way
Known globally for agricultural science, Dutch scientists at Wageningen University & Research are working on what they call “self-fertilising crops”. Their approach is simple in concept, though complex in execution: help crop roots attract and host nitrogen-fixing bacteria, enable a stable partnership between plant and microbe and allow crops to use nitrogen from the air instead of fertiliser. This work is no longer limited to laboratories. Field trials are already underway. The interdisciplinary research combines plant science, microbiology, genetics, data science, and even artificial intelligence. It is a good example of how modern agriculture depends on teamwork across fields.
What Do the Results Show?
Early field trials have produced encouraging results. Modified crops such as wheat and rice have shown yields comparable to conventionally fertilised crops. In some cases, soils under these crops showed improved nitrogen levels instead of depletion. In simple terms, these crops do not just take from the soil. They also give something back. Farmers could potentially reduce fertiliser use drastically, without sacrificing productivity. This is why excitement around this technology is growing so rapidly.
Global Agriculture Could Change
Nitrogen fertiliser is one of the biggest expenses in farming. For many farmers, it accounts for 25 to 30 per cent of total input costs. If crops can supply their own nitrogen, farming becomes cheaper, environmental damage is reduced, dependence on imported fertilisers declines, and food production becomes more resilient. Developing countries stand to gain the most. Many small farmers cannot afford enough fertiliser. Self-fertilising crops could help them increase yields without increasing debt. Some experts say this innovation could do for sustainability what the Green Revolution did for food production.
What It Means for India
India is one of the world’s largest users of urea. The government spends enormous sums on fertiliser subsidies every year. At the same time, nitrate pollution in groundwater is becoming a serious health concern in many regions. For Indian agriculture, self-feeding crops could be transformative. Rice and wheat are the backbone of India’s food system. If even part of their nitrogen requirement could come from the air, fertiliser subsidies could fall, farmers’ costs could be reduced, soil health could improve, and environmental damage could be reversed. This would directly support sustainable farming and long-term food security.
From Fighting Nature to Working With It
For decades, agriculture tried to overpower nature—more fertilisers, more chemicals, more water. The result was higher yields, but also rising costs and environmental stress. The new approach is different. It is about working with nature, not against it. Crops that feed themselves represent a shift in thinking. They use natural processes, guided by modern science, to solve modern problems. This technology is still developing. It may take a few more years before farmers see it widely in their fields. But the direction is clear.
A New Agricultural Revolution?
The Green Revolution saved millions from hunger. It changed the world. But it also created new challenges. Today, agriculture stands at another turning point. Crops that draw nitrogen from the air, reduce pollution, lower costs, and protect the soil could define the next era of farming. This time, the goal is not just more food, but better farming, healthier land, and a safer future. If this promise is fulfilled, future generations may look back and say: This is when agriculture learned to feed itself, without harming the planet.
