Trey Gordner

2053 days ago

Too cool: A weird strain of Mexican corn uses bacteria jelly to fertilize itself. Giving all corn this trait could save 6.6 million tons/year of environmentally damaging commercual fertilizer.

The Sierra Mixe corn takes eight months to mature—too long to make it commercially useful. But if its remarkable ability could be bred into conventional corn, which matures in just three months, it would be an agricultural game changer.

The Wonder Plant That Could Slash Fertilizer Use

theatlantic.com