Latest net-photosynthesis

How Do Organic Fertilizers and Photosynthetic Rate Work Together?

August 4, 2025 at 5:12 pm | Updated August 4, 2025 at 5:12 pm | 12 min read

Most research findings show that organic fertilizers improve the crop’s photosynthetic rate. The improvement occurs through increased photosynthetic efficiency, increased leaf number and area, and enhanced leaf chlorophyll content. Organic fertilizers enhance the soil’s nutrient status to support better plant growth and health, which increases crop photosynthetic rate. In many cases, organic fertilizers were more… Continue reading…

Fixed leaf image

Additional reading

Interesting Photosynthesis Research in 2022

Photosynthesis is crucial for crop yield improvement, forest management, and environmental protection. Increasingly research on photosynthesis is cross-disciplinary. Some studies combine photosynthesis with fields wide apart, like cancer cures, plastic degradation, or computers. Read further about the most striking photosynthesis research emerging last year, 2022.  1. Photosynthesis for cancer cure? Figure 1: Jiang et al.… Continue reading…

How is Climate Change Affecting Photosynthesis?

The short answer is, it depends. Whether climate change affects photosynthesis and what the effects are, depends on many factors. The effects of climate change on photosynthesis will depend on soil water, nutrient availability, species, and climactic conditions. Plant physiological processes like stomatal conductance, transpiration, and photorespiration moderate climate change effects on photosynthesis. More CO2… Continue reading…

microscopic image of plant stomata

Stomatal Conductance: Functions, Measurement, and Applications

Though a common plant function, much remains unknown about stomatal conductance, especially at larger ecosystem scales while its associated processes like photosynthesis and, to a lesser extent, transpiration, are largely well studied. This research gap is surprising considering that sophisticated tools exist to rapidly and accurately measure stomatal conductance in the field. Modern infrared gas… Continue reading…

Hands manipulating SpectraVue Leaf Spectrometer touch screen

Teaching with plant science tools

 Kim Collins and her team at Northport High School have been utilizing the CI-710s SpectraVue Leaf Spectrometer to lend a modern, data-driven approach to students’ research projects. In this interview, we dive into how this technology-forward curriculum is empowering the next generation of plant science researchers and explore two unique student-led projects using Spectravue.

5 Ways to Improve Water Use Efficiency

Improving water use efficiency, the ratio of yield to water supplied can boost food production for a growing population without additional use of limited water resources. Water use efficiency for food production can be improved at the farm or plant level. On farms, this can be achieved through optimized management. At the plant level, improvements… Continue reading…

Precision Agriculture Policy & Adoption Outlook 2023

Precision agriculture is being branded as Agriculture 4 – the next revolution to make food production more profitable, sustainable, and environmentally friendly. Even though its adoption is uneven, the use of precision agriculture has been increasing consistently for the last several years. This article will review precision agriculture technologies, their adoption, and how precision agriculture… Continue reading…