Crop Photosynthesis Improved By 40% By Scientists To Hopefully Reduce Suicides In Farmers

When you go to school, you must have learned about photosynthesis, which is the way plants use CO2 from the atmosphere with sunlight energy to produce sugar molecules in plants. A researcher has been seeking a new method to co-opt that photosynthesis process. According to the latest news, her research may have been successful.

In particular, this researcher is Amanda Cavanagh. She has been working as a post-doctoral scientist and biologist at the University of Illinois. It is said that she has been focusing on the research of Rubisco, which is a kind of plant proteins. Rubisco can be found in leaves in the form of large molecules. She said to NPR:

However, this protein plays a significant role because it takes responsibility for collecting CO2 from the atmosphere for the photosynthesis process. But there is an issue that Rubisco is not actually the most effective protein as it tends to take in oxygen too. If it happens, it will form a harmful compound that in the plants must be removed. And to eliminate this compound, it will require too much energy, which leads to photosynthesis is not really energy efficient.

Therefore, she in coordination with her colleagues have been developing a program at the University of Illinois, which is called Realizing Increased Photosynthetic Efficiency (RIPE). They have been working hard to “fix” this protein for photosynthesis for five years.

They are carrying out experiments on tobacco plants. According to the result, altered genes which were implanted into tobacco plants shut down the detox system presenting in the plants and build another one which is more efficient. Because there was a large amount of energy to spare, the original tobacco plants turned into super ones with the faster growth with a larger size of up to 40%. Also, it didn't make any difference whether these plants were grown in open-air plots or insulated greenhouses.

Certainly, tobacco the natural process of photosynthesis slightly for testing because of its easy-to-work-with nature. The team is currently trying to introduce this method to other kinds of food crops such as soybeans, and tomatoes. By changing slightly the natural process of photosynthesis, the team is likely to grow plants which can make much more food than the what we are used to.

The study is so promising that both the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the US Department of Agriculture are financing it. Moreover, if the research went through, it could be applied to regular crop production.

That future plan obviously requires many years. Researchers need to observe whether the adjusted protein can actually improve the output of food crops or just creates leafier plants with a bigger size.

Otherwise, if the method works, it would help reduce the current food crisis in many developing countries. Particularly, it also helps farmers earn more profit from their crops and avoid being drowning in debt. It is said that a march has just taken place in New Delhi with the participation of thousands of farmers, which demands the attention of the government on the farming land crisis.

In addition, it is important for farmers to sell at higher prices due to the expensiveness of gene-improved crops. And if the farmers do not have incentives for their work, the entire country could starve.