Mapping current and future habitat suitability of Azolla spp., a biofertilizer for small-scale rice farming in Africa.

ABSTRACT: How do we feed the expanding human population without excessive resource depletion or environmental degradation? Recycling and recapturing nutrients could alleviate these challenges, especially if these strategies are robust to climate change. Co-cultivating rice with Azolla spp. in Asia has demonstrated high yields with reduced fertilizer inputs because Azolla fixes atmospheric nitrogen, limits nitrogen volatilization, recaptures and releases other nutrients, and suppresses weeds. While Azolla is distributed in Africa, this approach has not been widely implemented in African rice-farming. Characterizing the suitability of Azolla is critical in evaluating the potential for Azolla-rice in Africa. To do so, we synthesized 189 field and greenhouse studies from around the world that quantified

SUBMITTER: Ocloo XS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10727437 | biostudies-literature | 2023

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature