Researchers at Linköping University (Sweden) developed a “bioelectronic soil” that can accelerate plant growth in hydroponic spaces, or farms that grow plants without soil in environments composed primarily of water and a place for roots to attach. After integrating the engineered 'eSoil' into the framework where the seedlings grow, the researchers found that sending electrical signals through the soil caused the plants to grow 50 percent larger on average.
eSoil is made up of organic substances mixed with a conductive polymer called PEDOTwhich can be found in things like OLED sensors and screens. Eleni Stavrinidou, the study's supervisor, told Engadget that soil conductivity was necessary to stimulate plant roots.. In this particular study, the researchers examined the effect of signaling barley seedlings over a period of 15 days before harvesting them for analysis. Applying a voltage as little as 0.5 V to the eSoil electrically stimulates the roots, Stavrinidou explained. This, in turn, resulted in a notable increase in the biomass of electrically stimulated plants compared to unstimulated seeds.
The effect of stimulation on barley seedlings was described as “stable” and “transitory”. Stavrinidou told Engadget that nitrogen, one of the main nutrients involved in plant growth, was processed more efficiently through stimulation. "We found that stimulated plants were able to process nutrients more efficiently, but we do not understand how stimulation affects this process,” Stavrindou explained, adding that the reason behind the growth process will be the focus of future studies.
While hydroponic techniques are primarily used to grow leafy greens and some vegetables such as cucumbers and tomatoes, eSoil could offer a solution to create new ways to increase crop yields in commercial environments and especially in places where environmental conditions affect plant growth. The study highlights that this technique could minimize the use of fertilizers in agriculture.
The opportunity for technological innovation in agriculture is enormous considering the number of American farms has steadily declined since 1982, according to the Agriculture department. Last year, the number of farms in the US reached 2 million, up from 2.2 million in 2007. Not only are farms in decline, but the US is losing acres of land due to a series of reasons ranging from of climate change to the worsening economic prospects for farmers due to inflationdoing agriculture in controlled environments more popular.
But beyond improving crop yields, implementing eSoil on hydroponic farms could make them more energy conscious. While traditional hydroponic farms consume less water, require more energy run. “eSoil consumes very little energy in the microwatt range,” Stavrinidou said. Before this technology can be applied to large-scale agriculture and other types of crops, more studies need to be done to look at how electrical stimulation can affect the entire growth cycle of a plant throughout its entire life and not just in the early stages of the seedling. maturation. Stavrinidou also said his team plans to study how the technique affects the growth of other plant species.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/swedish-researchers-develop-electronic-soil-that-speeds-up-plant-growth-205630538.html?src=rss
