A joint research team from Russia and China has found that a simple adjustment to the arrangement of plant leaves (canopy architecture) can increase global food production by one-third while reducing greenhouse gas emissions. This was reported on the
website of Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia named after Patrice Lumumba, a partner of TV BRICS.
Using 16 years of satellite imagery and data from thousands of fields worldwide, the research team applied Artificial Intelligence to isolate the impact of weather, soil and fertilisers from the influence of leaf structure on plant development. It was found that rice, wheat, maize and soybean crops with a compact canopy architecture consistently produced higher yields.
“If leaves are arranged chaotically and shade one another, the upper leaves capture almost all the light, while the lower ones ‘starve’ in the shade. If the leaves are arranged more compactly, in clusters – like blinds that let light through – sunlight penetrates deep down. This is canopy architecture. […] A compact canopy functions like a solar panel with redirected light: the lower leaves receive enough radiation for photosynthesis, whereas previously they remained underutilised. The plant begins to produce more organic matter – hence the increase in yield,” explained study participant Yakov Kuzyakov, Professor at the Agrarian and Technological Institute of RUDN University.
The scientists introduced a special indicator – the canopy clumping index (CI). They noted that in Asia and Africa, for example, rice varieties exhibit significantly different CI values. To increase yields, it is necessary to select varieties with more compact leaf arrangements for specific regions or slightly adjust planting density.
The discovery also proved beneficial from an environmental perspective. It was found that for active photosynthesis, crops require more nitrogen. As a result, plants absorb more nitrogen from the soil, leaving fewer resources for soil bacteria that produce nitrous oxide (N₂O), a greenhouse gas. In this way, the plant begins to regulate the nitrogen cycle independently.
The study opens new opportunities for increasing productivity. Any quadcopter equipped with a camera can capture images of fields, while specialised software – similar to that used by scientists to analyse satellite data – can quickly determine the compactness index. These data will allow farmers to accurately adjust planting strategies.
According to the researchers’ projections, such adjustments could increase global crop yields by 336 million tonnes per year. This would be sufficient to feed 800 million people – roughly half the population of Africa. At the same time, N₂O emissions could be reduced by 41.6 per cent, a result that is difficult to achieve even with a complete ban on fertilisers. The economic impact of these changes is estimated at US$108 billion annually.