"**Our battle with agriculture has been centred on one thing: having enough nutrients in the soil at the right time**. Until a century ago our ability to grow more was limited by a key element: nitrogen. "**Nitrogen is the building block of life. It’s the basis of proteins and is essential for the successful growth of all plants**. If a soil doesn’t have enough nitrogen, crops will grow poorly if they grow at all. It’s the most abundant element in our atmosphere – **making up 78% of it**. "But it’s inert in the form we find in the atmosphere. That means plants can’t use it: **they need it to be in a reactive form where it can react with hydrogen, carbon and other important biological elements**. ([Location 2477](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B0C3X6X695&location=2477)" --- **Tags** -- [[quotes]], [[nitrogen]], [[hydrogen]], [[carbon]], [[fertilisers]], [[farming]], [[growth]], [[statistics]] **Source** -- [[260103133118 - B - Not the End of the World]]