Blumwald named 2023 Innovator of the Year

Plant biologist Eduardo Blumwald was named a 2023 Innovator of the Year for his team's discovery of a way to greatly reduce the amount of nitrogen fertilizer needed to grow cereal crops such as rice. He was among several people recognized by UC Davis this week for developing innovative solutions that improve the lives of others and address important global needs.

Blumwald’s innovations already have been adapted to many crops and are being licensed for commercialization. He has opened the possibility to enhance crop yields and nutritional security in countries worldwide while addressing major environmental issues.

Blumwald is a distinguished professor and Will W. Lester Endowed Chair in the Department of Plant Sciences, He and others were celebrated during a ceremony June 13. Recipients receive $10,000 to advance their research or engage in community efforts; the program is managed by the campus Office of Research.

The problem the Blumwald team has tackled stems from the very success of modern agriculture: Operations rely on expensive chemical fertilizers to increase crop productivity, but these fertilizers can harm the environment and contaminate soil and water.

The team used gene-editing to boost the production of naturally occurring chemicals in the roots of cereal crops, such as rice and wheat, that stimulate the formation of bacterial biofilms. These biofilms increase the ability of bacteria in the soil to capture nitrogen in the air and convert it into a form that plant roots can take up and use to grow. As the nitrogen-fixing soil bacteria proliferate, plants get access to more naturally occurring nitrogen, reducing the reliance on added nitrogen fertilizer.

The discovery will save farmers around the world billions of dollars in annual fertilizer costs. It will also have a direct impact on the environment by reducing nitrogen pollution, which can lead to contaminated water resources, excessive plant and algae growth, increased greenhouse gas emissions and human health issues. The findings were published in the Plant Biotechnology Journal.