The U.S. Department of Energy Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) has announced $5 million in funding to the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and partner institutions to develop a new variety of corn called NSave that will reduce nitrogen fertilizer use and greenhouse gas emissions while maintaining crop yield.

The funding is part of the Technologies to Emend and Obviate SYnthetic Nitrogen’s Toll on Emissions (TEOSYNTE) program, which aims to develop technologies that reduce synthetic nitrogen fertilizer use in corn and sorghum farming – key crops for U.S. ethanol production. Preliminary work on the project was funded by the Illinois Nutrient Research and Education Council. 

Leading the project is Angela Kent, professor in the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences, part of the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences at Illinois. Co-principal investigators in the College of ACES include Shadi Atallah from the Department of Agricultural and Consumer Economics and Fred Below, Martin Bohn, Steve Moose, and Connor Sible from the Department of Crop Sciences. Researchers from North Carolina State University, the University of Arizona, and Oak Ridge National Laboratory are also involved.

The Illinois-led project will integrate traits from teosinte, a wild relative of corn, to conserve nitrogen and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, while at the same time increasing nutrient use efficiency of corn. This novel NSave corn aims to lower costs for farmers and reduce our country’s reliance on foreign fertilizer imports.

“Implementing NSave traits in commercial maize will require no new infrastructure, and will lower fertilizer costs and nitrate runoff, reducing risks for growers, improving the environmental impact of agriculture, and facilitating adoption in new markets, such as sustainable aviation fuels,” Kent said.

Rodney Johnson, ACES associate dean for research, said, “We’re excited to move forward with the first ARPA-E grant led by the college and commend Dr. Kent for her leadership in this effort. This project is just one of the many examples of ACES’ commitment to sustainable agriculture.”