Abstract

On the brink of World War 1, scientists throughout Europe were already embroiled in a debate regarding food supply shortages. During that point in time, it was well known that plants require nitrogen to grow and that large-scale farming disrupts the nitrogen cycle during harvests. Hence, the soil’s nitrogen content had to be replenished. Guano (animal droppings) was known to be a great fertilizer, but its imports were dwindling, and Europe didn’t have an abundance of land to grow crops on and feed its people. Fortunately, Fritz Haber had discovered the Haber cycle during that time, enabling nitrogen-rich ammonia to be produced for fertilizers.  This led to the first major green revolution that changed the landscape of agriculture. Since then, we’ve experienced multiple green revolutions as science and technology progressed, but another one might be just around the corner. This led to the first major green revolution that changed the landscape of agriculture. Since then, we’ve experienced multiple green revolutions as science and technology progressed, but another one might be just around the corner.