Yield maintained or increased
Across the reduced-nitrogen trials summarised in the April 2025 overview, R-Leaf-treated crops increased yield in 41% of trials and maintained yield in 50%. Standard farm practice was higher in 9%.
Evidence
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R-Leaf® evidence is organised for two kinds of visitor: people who need a clear overview, and people who want to inspect the trials, project design, methodology and technical evidence behind the conclusion.
115+ trialsCommercial field programmesAtmospheric MRVIndependent methodology review
AGRONOMYNitrogen · yield · crop response
COMMERCIAL FIELDNormal farm operations and real seasons
CARBONAtmospheric N₂O measurement
ASSURANCEMethodology · VVB · registry
R-Leaf at a glance
Evidence should be easy to scan — and easy to interrogate.
The published trials overview brings together 115 trials across research and commercial farming. The website separates agronomic results, commercial deployment, measured carbon outcomes, independent verification and issued registry units so no one has to guess what a number represents.
115Total trials in the published overview
91%Commercial trials
42%Trials using reduced nitrogen programmes
51%Of trials by crop type were cereals
Choose your route
What do you want to understand?
Agronomic evidence
Nitrogen response and crop performance.
The published R-Leaf trials include both reduced-nitrogen programmes and applications alongside standard farm nitrogen. That allows two different questions to be examined: can synthetic nitrogen be reduced while protecting yield, and can an additional atmospheric nitrate pathway support crop performance where the standard nitrogen programme is maintained?
R-Leaf treatment showed higher yield
In the published full-nitrogen trial set, R-Leaf-treated crops showed higher yield in 85% of trials, with a reported average yield increase of 7.1% across the summarised dataset.
What nitrogen reductions were tested?
Crop-specific programmes, not one blanket claim.
The overview includes reduced-N programmes at different rates depending on crop and trial design. These examples describe what was tested; they are not an automatic recommendation for every field.
Legume focus
Peas: nitrogen-fixing does not mean nitrogen-independent.
Peas can fix atmospheric nitrogen through root nodules, but crop nitrogen demand changes through the season. High-yielding pea crops still need sufficient nitrogen reserves as seed and pod demand increases. R-Leaf's foliar NOx-to-nitrate pathway is therefore particularly interesting in a legume crop because it provides an additional nitrogen route without replacing the crop's biological fixation system.
Five of six full-N pea trials were positive
The April 2025 Trials Overview shows five positive pea yield responses of +9%, +15%, +15%, +20% and +20.5%, alongside one negative result of −4.69%. This is useful evidence of potential crop response, while also showing the variability that should remain visible in the evidence.
Open the pea trial chart in the Trials Overview ↗10% yield increase reported in commercial vining peas
A 2025 Farmers Weekly case study of a large commercial vining-pea system reported a 10% increase in pea yields from use of a foliar photocatalyst. The same programme was also undertaking university-led greenhouse-gas measurement to quantify the climate effect.
Read the Farmers Weekly pea case study ↗Why can peas respond?
Pea nitrogen uptake and fixation can fall during pod fill while nitrogen is being relocated to seed. High-yield crops therefore need adequate nitrogen reserves and canopy function through the reproductive period.
Read the crop-nutrition context ↗What about soybean and other legumes?
The same biological principle is relevant to other legumes, including soybean: biological N fixation supplies a large share of crop demand, but not necessarily all of it, particularly in high-yield environments. The R-Leaf evidence base includes soybean as a crop tested, but the current public overview does not provide a standalone soybean result, so we do not make a quantified soybean performance claim here.
See the soybean nitrogen review ↗Published trial subset
Wheat
Strongest public cereal evidence base.
🌾
The April 2025 overview lists 27 wheat trials overall. The published charts break out two useful subsets: nine reduced-nitrogen results at 25% less synthetic N, and eleven on-top/full-N results.
+2.1%average yield response across the nine 25%-reduced-N wheat datapoints shown
0 to +9%range in that reduced-N subset
+7.7%average across eleven full-N/on-top wheat datapoints shown
10 / 11full-N/on-top wheat datapoints were positive
00000.41.5359
25% N-reduction wheat subset — yield response versus comparator (%). Website calculation from the individual values plotted in the published overview.
What this suggestsThe public wheat evidence supports both a reduced-N strategy and an on-top yield-response proposition, while still showing seasonal variability in the full-N set.
Open the source Trials Overview ↗
Published trial subset
Barley
Positive on-top results; keep quality in view.
🌾
The overview lists three barley trials overall. Two barley datapoints are explicitly identified in the public full-N/on-top cereal chart, at +2.2% and +2.5% yield response.
+2.35%average of the two public on-top barley datapoints
2 / 2public on-top barley datapoints were positive
2.22.5
Full-N/on-top barley subset — yield response versus comparator (%). The public overview does not break out the third barley trial, so we do not infer its result.
What this suggestsThe published barley subset is encouraging, but commercial recommendations should consider both yield and crop-quality specifications, particularly for malting markets.
Open the source Trials Overview ↗
Published trial subset
Potatoes
Reduced-N yield largely protected; on-top response positive on average.
🥔
The overview lists 17 potato trials overall. In the public reduced-N chart, potato was tested at 25% less nitrogen; the three potato datapoints shown are −1.7%, 0% and +2%. The on-top/full-N root-crop chart shows four potato datapoints of −4.9%, +4.7%, +8% and +8%.
+0.1%average across the three public 25%-reduced-N potato datapoints shown
~+4.0%average across the four public on-top potato datapoints
3 / 4on-top potato datapoints were positive
25% reduced N
−1.702
Full N / on-top
−4.94.788
Potato subsets plotted in the April 2025 Trials Overview. Averages above are calculated from the individual values shown.
What this suggestsIn the public reduced-N subset, the average yield response was essentially neutral while 25% less N was tested. The on-top subset shows upside potential, but also one negative season/result — useful evidence of real-world variability.
Open the source Trials Overview ↗
Published trial subset
Maize
Reduced-N subset performed better than the small on-top subset.
🌽
The overview lists eight maize trials overall. The public reduced-N chart shows two maize datapoints at 35% less nitrogen: +1% and +13%. The full-N/on-top cereal chart shows two maize datapoints: −9% and +6.2%.
+7.0%average across the two public 35%-reduced-N maize datapoints
−1.4%average across the two public full-N/on-top maize datapoints
2 + 2public datapoints in the two subsets — a small sample, so interpret cautiously
35% reduced N
113
Full N / on-top
−96.2
Maize subsets plotted in the April 2025 Trials Overview. The contrast between subsets is interesting, but the public sample is small.
What this suggestsThe published maize results are consistent with testing R-Leaf as part of a reduced-N strategy rather than assuming an on-top response every season. More crop-specific public data would strengthen the conclusion.
Open the source Trials Overview ↗
Agronomic integrity
Results differ between crops, seasons and field conditions. Trial averages and individual results are evidence of observed performance, not a guarantee that every farm will achieve the same response. Crop-specific recommendations should remain grounded in the relevant evidence and local agronomy.
Carbon evidence
Public evidence you can verify independently.
R-Leaf's carbon proposition is supported by public methodology and project records outside the R-Leaf website. These external records are the best place for a technical reviewer or carbon buyer to confirm current status.
M-ICR011
Atmospheric nitrous oxide (N₂O) destruction using Photocatalysts.
- Developer
- Crop Intellect Ltd
- Sector
- Agriculture
- First approval
- 10 July 2025
- Public consultation
- 1 April – 1 May 2025
R-Leaf 2025 atmospheric N₂O project
Publicly listed project deploying R-Leaf across 1,533 ha in the UK and Hungary.
- Methodology
- M-ICR011
- Project owner
- Crop Intellect Ltd
- VVB
- Enviance Services Private
- Crediting period
- 1 year
Value-chain / Scope 3 pathway
SustainCERT validated Crop Intellect's atmospheric N₂O removal methodology in 2025 under ISO 14064-2:2019.
- Intervention
- Photocatalytic N₂O removal
- Use
- Agricultural value chains
- Standard basis
- ISO 14064-2:2019
How carbon evidence is built
Trace the result back to the field.
The evidence chain is intentionally visible so the final tCO₂e result is not presented as an unexplained number.
R-Leaf application→Treated + control→Atmospheric sampling→Weather→QA/QC→Flux / quantification→Monitoring Report→Independent review
Methodologies
Two routes for two different uses of climate value.
International Carbon Registry
M-ICR011 provides the project framework for atmospheric N₂O destruction using photocatalysts, including baseline, monitoring, quantification and independent verification requirements.
Explore ICR pathway →SustainCERT
A separately validated methodological pathway supports agricultural value-chain use where the mitigation outcome remains within the supply chain rather than being sold as an external credit.
Explore supply chains →Published R-Leaf evidence
Approved evidence items.
As individual reports and case studies are approved for public release, they can be added here with a status that identifies what kind of evidence they represent.
Content is being prepared.
Public, approved items will be added here during staging population.
Technical centre
For people who want to dig deeper.
The technical centre separates detailed science and MRV information from the main visitor journey while keeping it accessible to scientists, auditors, VVBs and technical buyers.
Photocatalyst scienceVisible-light activation and separate NOx / N₂O pathways
Field samplingTreated/control design, sampling heights and timing
InstrumentationTrace-gas analysers and laboratory methods
QA/QCStability, duplicates, blanks, outliers and traceability
BaselineControl fields and justified alternative approaches
UncertaintyMeasurement and calculation treatment
ExtrapolationHow measured outcomes are applied to defined project periods
Project emissionsProduct manufacture and any additional field operations
Transparency principle
Detailed project documents should be published only when they are approved for public release. Where the authoritative source is a registry, VVB or independent validation body, this website links directly to that source rather than reproducing or reinterpreting its status.