Long-lasting drought and increasing production costs have been putting California farmers to the test this year.

One of the biggest expenses for a farmer is fertilizer. In just the past year, the price for nitrogen-based fertilizer has doubled due to supply issues.

Despite the steep cost, fertilizer is a necessary expense for farmers in order to ensure that their crops produce enough food to feed growing demand. But nitrogen fertilizers also pose significant environmental threats.

"The problem is more than half of whatever we are putting on the soil leaches out and goes to our water sources," Eduardo Blumwald, a distinguished professor of plant science at UC Davis, said.

That can lead to contaminated drinking water, excessive plant and algae growth, and even increased greenhouse gases.

"Nitrate (a product of the fertilizer) can break down in the soil by bacteria and produce nitrous oxide gas," Blumwald said. "That actually dissolves our ozone layer. And that can become a maximal contributor to global warming."

Blumwald's team of researchers has spent the last several years working on a solution to the monetary and environmental cost of using these fertilizers. Simply put: they're looking for ways to use less of it while still maintaining a plant's productivity.