Rare corn can self-fertilise [video] (opens in new tab)

Title is very misleading. Perhaps it should be “Rare corn can fix its own nitrogen”

Incredibly cool though.

Context: Most plants pull nitrogen from the soil, and over time the soil becomes depleted and your crops grow more slowly. Bacteria in legumes convert atmospheric nitrogen to plant-usable forms, so historically you've needed to cycle nitrogen-"fixing" crops into your fields to 'restore' the nitrogen balance in the soil. Alternatively, you can use fertilizers, which supply N directly.

This is potentially interesting because the corn acts as its own fertilizer, fixing nitrogen from the atmosphere.

Per https://news.wisc.edu/corn-that-acquires-its-own-nitrogen-id..., original research paper was published in 2018, see https://journals.plos.org/plosbiology/article?id=10.1371/jou...

I just ordered seeds for a nitrogen fixing corn from the Experimental Farm Network.

"Grown for centuries by indigenous farmers in rural Mexico, this incredibly rare corn can self-fertilise. In episode three of 'Planet Fix', we explore how this wonder crop could help tackle world hunger, and even end farming's toxic reliance on chemical fertilisers for good!"

What are the tradeoffs, does it taste as good and is the yield ok?