HYDRAZOME

HYDRAZOME

Here’s the story of an overlooked problem…

WATERLOGGING



It occurs when there is too much water near plant roots

But it is NOTas simple as it sounds!

12000000+

hectares of agricultural land in India is waterlogged

53000+

crores INR of economic loss annually in India




It causes a loss of

million

tonnes of food production annually

A loss of upto

26,000  million

kilos of food can be prevented

in India by tackling this issue alone



This results in a HUGE BLOW to our farmers…


Sadly it is not just limited to India!

Loss in

50%

of wheat yield

Agricultural productivity decrease by

30%

leaving the land untenable

Why is WATER such a pain in the ROOTS?



Plants normally convert a molecule called ACC into ethylene. ACC production is upregulated under the hypoxic conditions of waterlogging. This response involves a harmful peak in ethylene production. This harmful peak results in low crop productivity and plant death.


We've found a SOLUTION to this!

HYDRAZOME

Our chassis,


Azospirillum brasilense


is already an amazing friend to the plants and is used as a biofertilizer world-wide. Using this we aim to:

Introduce the acdS gene to break down ACC into ammonia and α-ketobutyrate to prevent formation of harmful ethylene

Deal with the repercussions of waterlogging-salt deposition and drought like conditions which are known to make the land uncultivable

The acdS gene will be in effect ONLY during waterlogging. Hence, our biofertilizer, Hydrazome with our modified chassis can be used throughout the year!

Water water, everywhere,
not a single plant to spare