Photosynthesis is the primary determinant of crop yield, with the current energy conversion efficiency of crop photosynthesis being only about 2%, which significantly limits the yield of grain and vegetable crops. Earth Science Frontiers is dedicated to advancing global scientific and technological frontiers and addressing primary economic concerns, having reported on a series of our scientific research findings over nearly three decades. Recently, Earth Science Frontiers has continuously been reporting on groundbreaking research on mineral-enhanced biological photosynthesis and its breakthrough applications in solving the international challenge of improving crop yield and quality in agriculture. Our latest studies have further confirmed that the manganese clusters (Mn₄CaO₅) in plant chloroplasts have an evolutionary and genetic relationship with birnessite in the mineral membrane on the surface of soils and rocks, and both exhibit similar functions in photocatalytic water splitting. The infrared emission spectra of minerals can affect the function of water and promote the function of photocatalytic water splitting. Classical plant photosynthesis is confined to the absorption and conversion of sunlight by manganese clusters in chloroplasts. In contrast, mineral-based non-classical photosynthesis outside of chloroplasts can expand the utilization range of the solar spectrum through functionalized water; that is, by altering the functionality of irrigation water, the efficiency of solar energy conversion can be improved. This has opened up a new way to improve the efficiency of plant photosynthesis. Based on this theory, we have proposed the innovative “mineral-water-photosynthesis” technology, which has achieved a 20%-50% increase in crop yields in field trials, significantly enhancing the yield and quality of various crops. This represents a pioneering example of how natural minerals can influence water functionality to promote biological photosynthesis.