Introduction
Global food security challenges have become apparent due to multiple factors including a substantial increase in the global population, climate change, and water scarcity.[1] By 2050, global food supply chains must ensure sufficient nourishment for an estimated 9 billion people, which is 60% more than the demand at present \cite{nations,breene}. This rising demand is partly due to shifts to richer diets (e.g. dairy, processed food) in certain parts of the world, which have also included an increase in grain consumption \cite{breene,Shi2021}. Moreover, substantial climate change and land degradation have further exacerbated food security globally \cite{Fujimori_2019,Hasegawa_2018,Ramankutty2018,Smith2020}. Specifically, 11.1% of households in the United States were food insecure in 2018 and 12.7% were food insecure in Canada, suggesting that the food security challenge is not specific to underdeveloped regions \cite{Long_2020}. This challenge has also been amplified as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, as availability, access, and stability of the food supply have been compromised \cite{Zurayk_2020}. According to the United Nations, nearly 2.37 billion people did not have access to an adequate food supply in 2020, which accounted for a 15.6% increase from pre-pandemic times \cite{nationsa}. Therefore, continuous efforts to sustain an increasingly stressed food supply chain both during and after the pandemic will be essential.
In the context of agriculture, extensive efforts have been made to increase the production yield of crops. Notably, the overapplication of fertilizers in an effort to enhance yield has been widely employed, resulting in sub-optimal outcomes as well as fertilizer wastage \cite{Good2011,zhang2000}. The excessive use of fertilizers, specifically nitrogen-based formulations, has often resulted in adverse environmental impact, such as soil degradation and harmful effects on aquatic life due to water pollution \cite{Ahmed2017,Qi_2018,Kopittke_2019,Khan_2018}. The emissions of nitrous oxide as a result of microbial conversions have also directly contributed to climate change and global warming \cite{Zhao_2019}. Thus, an equilibrium between food security and sustainability must be achieved to meet the demands of population growth while preventing further environmental deterioration.