Making agriculture greener

Agriculture is both a victim and a culprit of climate change. Growing and producing food, fiber, and biofuels generates about one-quarter of all human-caused greenhouse-gas emissions. At the same time, yields of the world’s major food crops are projected to decline in the coming decades as the climate warms, causing droughts, heat waves, or heavier-­than-normal rains. In some areas it is already happening. Agricultural machine,gearbox,agricultural gearbox,agricultural reducer，Lithium battery

A group of MIT researchers hopes to tackle both sides of the problem.Agricultural machine,gearbox,agricultural gearbox,agricultural reducer，Lithium battery

Christopher Voigt, the Daniel I.C. Wang Professor in the Department of Biological Engineering and co-director of MIT’s Synthetic Biology Center, is leading a Climate Grand Challenges flagship project that aims to reduce emissions from agriculture, largely from fertilizer, and boost yields of major food crops.

“Our focus is on decarbonizing agriculture,” Voigt says. “And underlying that is biotechnology. How do we use plant and microbial engineering, andAgricultural machine,gearbox,agricultural gearbox,agricultural reducer，Lithium battery biotechnology, to chip away at carbon emissions from agriculture? That’s one piece. The other [focus of our project] is developing crops that are more resilient.”Agricultural machine,gearbox,agricultural gearbox,agricultural reducer，Lithium battery