The Nutrient Use Efficiency Hackathon in Cork
The International Fertilizer Association, together with Wageningen UR and FarmHack, organised a unique global hackathon focusing on one of the most pressing challenges in agriculture and food systems today. Develop innovative solutions that track nutrient use efficiency across the entire food chain, from fertilizer application to human nutrition. The phase 1 online hackathon was organised from 1-7 June 2026, followed by a phase 2 in-person hackathon Cork on 18,19 June 2026
Where does Nitrogen go after it is applied to a crop?
That was the simple but important question behind the Hackathon. Because when farmers apply nitrogen to crops, not all of it ends up in the food we eat.
· Some helps grow the crop;
· Some stays in the soil;
· Some is lost along the way.
And understanding that journey matters for both food security and the environment.
Nutrient Use Efficiency – NUE – is about measuring how much of the nutrient applied to crops actually becomes useful food. The hackathon focused on nitrogen, the plant nutrient required in largest quantity.
The goal is simple:
· Grow more food
· Waste less nitrogen
· Reduce environmental impacts
· Help farmers and food companies make better decisions
On the beatiful UCC campus in Cork, Ireland, 27 academics, innovators, researchers, entrepreneurs, students and industry experts came together for two days to work on this challenge. The ideas were practical, from supply chain tracking and farm-level tools to green finance and global NUE mapping, and judging was rigorous.
The winning team N-able
Their idea: a traceability platform that follows nitrogen use efficiency across the food chain — from farmer to processor to food company to consumer. In plain English: it could help consumers understand where their food comes from, and how efficiently nutrients were used to produce it.
Runner up N-Credit
Their idea connects verified nitrogen use efficiency data to agricultural lending — so farmers who use nitrogen efficiently could potentially access cheaper finance, while banks get better data for sustainability reporting. (LinkedIn IFA)
Quotes from participants
Last week I won a hackathon.
The IFA Nutrient Use Efficiency Tracking Hackathon in Cork brought together an unusual mix: academics, entrepreneurs, students and industry experts from across geographies, all pointed at the same problem. How do we measure and improve Nitrogen Use Efficiency (NUE) across agriculture?
For those that don’t know what NUE is, in short: Plants only absorb a fraction of the nitrogen applied through fertilizers. The rest escapes into the air or water as greenhouse gases and pollutants, so NUE measures how efficiently nitrogen is used, and improving it means fewer emissions.
Most teams built farm-level tools, which is the obvious and right instinct. Our team, N-Able, zoomed out instead. What if you could trace NUE end-to-end, from a farmer’s field all the way to a loaf of bread on a supermarket shelf? Two intense days later, that concept won.
This was entirely a team effort. Grateful to have worked with Sai Soumya, Ziyanda Precious Hadebe, and Najeda Regis. What we pulled together in 30 hours surprised even us.
One minor detail: I had already left for the airport when we won. My team called me so I could be there in spirit, and by spirit I mean a pixelated rectangle on Sai’s phone.
Thank you to International Fertilizer Association (IFA) and FarmHackNL for putting this together. The real value was in the room: people from different disciplines and sectors sitting together and pushing through a real problem. The industry needs more of this, more rooms like the one in Cork.
IFA is looking to take the outcomes forward in the coming months. Looking forward to it! (LinkedIn)
From an idea on day one to winning the International Fertilizer Association (IFA) Hackathon with our project “N-able”.
An incredible experience collaborating with brilliant minds from across the agri-food ecosystem and exploring how innovation can drive more sustainable food systems. A few days ago, I never imagined where a single decision would lead, and I’m grateful for the lessons, conversations, and connections made along the way.
Looking forward to sharing more about this journey soon. (LinkedIn)