First talk to kick off GESP! - NitroGenEdit

Our first guest speaker will be Dr. Mallikarjuna Rao Kovi from NMBU. He will talk about his work in the NitroGenEdit project and other aspects of what he is involved in.

NitroGenEdit: Greener Grass for a Sustainable Future

Grasslands cover up to 80% of Norway’s farmland, forming the backbone of the dairy and meat industries. While perennial ryegrass is highly productive, it often relies on heavy nitrogen fertilization, driving greenhouse gas emissions, water pollution, and rising costs for farmers.

The NitroGenEdit pilot project is exploring solutions through a combination of advanced plant breeding and genome editing. The project focuses on:

• Testing Norwegian ryegrass genotypes in hydroponic systems to understand nitrogen uptake and its impact on yield (WP-1).

• Developing CRISPR-Cas9 methods to edit nitrogen-regulating genes in ryegrass cultivars (WP-2).

• Sharing results with farmers, researchers, and stakeholders (WP-3).

By improving nitrogen use efficiency (NUE), the plant’s ability to grow with less fertilizer, the project aims to cut environmental impacts, reduce costs, and support sustainable farming.

Findings will lay the groundwork for larger field trials across Norway and contribute to the UN Sustainable Development Goals on food security, innovation, and climate action.

In short, NitroGenEdit is paving the way toward resilient, high-yield forage grasses that need fewer resources, aligning agriculture with a greener, more sustainable future.