SDG 2 — Zero Hunger
“End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture”
Our sustainable solution addresses the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal 2, seeking to “end hunger, achieve food security and improve nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture”, as it can be successfully implemented to achieve food security to effectively end hunger. The organic fertiliser promotes sustainable agriculture as the solution vitally supports resilient agricultural practices that prepares the soil for different conditions brought on as a result of climate change such as drought and flood periods. Specifically, our project addresses target 2.4 of SDG 2, that, by 2030 ensure sustainable food production systems increase productivity and production, thus improving land and soil quality over time. Furthermore, our green fertiliser directly answers the target as the balanced soil strengthens the capacity for adaptation to climate change. The call acknowledges that land and healthy soils are vital inputs into food production, and in creating a green fertiliser, the soil becomes more balanced and thus the agricultural systems used become less wasteful and more sustainable. More sustainable agricultural systems are able to produce more food that can reduce world hunger.
SDG 9 — Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure
“Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation”
Our organic alternative to conventional chemical fertilisers eliminates the need to use fossil fuels based nitrogen fertilisers, the manufacturing of such products contributing to 1.4% of annual emissions and 1% of global energy use. Hence, such a transition to our sustainable fertiliser is instrumental in reducing overall carbon emissions in agricultural processes in addition to addressing rising energy demands. Algal blooms caused by excess nitrogen runoffs also contribute to climate change, with nitrogen gas emitted being 300 times more potent than CO2, further punctuating the necessity of our organic fertiliser that delivers appropriate amounts of nitrogen. SOILution’s organic fertiliser provides a solution to the manufacturing demand of fertilisers, with nitrogen-fixing microbes functioning as a self regulating fertiliser, as opposed to chemical fertilisers which require regular maintenance, thus requiring less product to be made in order to achieve adequate soil quality.
SDG 13 — Climate Action
“Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts”
Our project addresses the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal 13, seeking to “limit and adapt to climate change”. Excessive nitrogen fertiliser use poses significant challenges, with global nitrogen usage increasing by 80% since 19614, with the Asia-Pacific region being the largest consumer. However, most nitrogen-based fertiliser that is applied to fields exceeds the requirements of the crop, with excess nitrogen leaching into our soil and polluting our atmosphere, with the agricultural industry found to be the cause of 2⁄3 of nitrogen pollution across the globe4. There are numerous health risks associated with nitrogen overuse, including respiratory ailments and the spread of diseases such as malaria and cholera in both cattle and humans4. Additionally, eutrophication and harmful algal blooms in freshwater ways, resulting from nitrogen enrichment in water, cause ecological dead zones which threaten ecosystems across the planet. By implementing our synthetically engineering bacteria to produce a consistent supply of nitrogen-based fertiliser for plants, the demand for synthetic nitrogen fertiliser will decrease, preventing the use of unnecessary amounts of fertiliser, while maintaining a consistent supply of produce for all.
SDG 15 — Life on Land
“Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss”
Our Project vision for UN’s Sustainable Development Goal 15, aims to synthetically reengineer microorganism that serves as an alternative chemical fertliser that self regulates nitrogenase to help covert nitrogen into ammonia, that will increase the plants nutrients, growth and promote sustainability to restore the land field caused by degradation or desertification. By producing a more sustainable nitrogen based fertiliser it will help revitalise plants by new strengthen soil and help produce more crop as the soil adapts to landlife extreme conditions. Overall these factors help improve the agricultural industry by supplying this to future companies making fertliser more green. However, the bacteria can be ineffective in certain ecosystems such as extreme weather or climate change serving as an difficult challenge due to some ecosystems emitting high levels of nitrogen at around 78%, limited moisture in extreme heat and high levels of oxygen at around 21% causing pollution within soil due to it’s exposure and impacting the agricultural industry to find a suitable land environment where the synthetic soil can operate effectively and productively.
Citations
UNEP. (2023). Four reasons why the world needs to limit nitrogen pollution. [online] Available at: https://www.unep.org/news-and-stories/story/four-reasons-why-world-needs-limit-nitrogen-pollution#:~:text=Nitrogen%20is%20a%20key%20contributor%20to%20climate%20change&text=This%20gas%20is%20300%20times.
Imran, A., Hakim, S., Tariq, M., Nawaz, M. S., Laraib, I., Gulzar, U., Hanif, M. K., Siddique, M., Hayat, M., Fraz, A., & Ahmad, M. S. A. (2021). Diazotrophs for Lowering Nitrogen Pollution Crises: Looking Deep Into the Roots. Frontiers in Microbiology, 12, 2. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2021.63781
