Soil-less farming, or hydroponics, is a plant growth system that replaces soil with nutrient-rich water. The system allows crops to access the required minerals and nutrients for growth directly, eliminating some plant stressors, as they no longer need to search for nutrients in the soil themselves. It allows crops to be grown faster and in larger sizes.
Such farming systems can help address food shortages, especially when communities lack viable arable land (like Malta) to carry out conventional farming methods. In Qatar, the Ministry of Environment set up a national food security programme to address the problem. Nik-Othman Abdullah, a biotechnologist at the Malaysia University of Science and Technology, recently published a paper in the journal Research Ideas and Outcomes thats details the strategy for Qatar to tackle its food shortage, as well as its reliance on imports, to reduce expenditure.
The proposal relies on vertical-horizontal soil-less farming that can create food produce at such an elevated rate that it could allow the country to feed itself. Food importation would become a page in history.
Malta also imports the majority of its food.
The Qatar system could produce a reliable number of high-quality crops. Nutrition is calculated and supplied to the plants, such that the plants do not compete with each other over a limited supply of nutrients. Their environment is also closely monitored. Since they are grown indoors, the light and air the plants receive is optimised for growth. They are protected from adverse atmospheric conditions or pests.
“Plants would not waste energy in root tissue production because nutrients in pure form will be provided to the plants instead of the plant stressing to search for the nutrients,” says Abdullah. “Therefore, plants grow evidently 50 per cent faster and bigger.”
Such farming systems can be cheaper overall. Hydroponics requires fewer personnel, eliminates chemical treatment costs, and uses much less water – just 10 per cent, compared to conventional farming methods over the same plot of land. The initial investment is costly, though with time the Qatarian scientists predict that prices will come down, allowing crops to be grown where they are needed – food for everyone.
Did you know…
1. Honeybees communicate by dancing. By waggling, bees communicate the direction and distance of a flower with nectar.
2. A species of jellyfish called Turritropsis dohrnii is immortal. After it reaches sexual maturity it regresses to its former asexual colonial stage.
3. Humans aren’t the only species to have entered the Stone Age. Chimpanzees, capuchins and macaques also use stone tools.
4. Monotropa uniform is a plant that lacks chlorophyll so it is completely white. It feeds by parasitising mushrooms.
For more trivia: www.um.edu.mt/think
Sound bites
• A robotic mudskipper helped scientists conclude how early land mammals traversed the earth’s surface 360 million years ago. Early terrestrial animals used their tails to navigate the sandy terrain. The movement of this robot showed that the tail was used to propel the animal forward. The mudskipper moved its limbs in a crunching motion while coordinating its tail movements with its appendages when it climbed up a sandy slope.
www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/07/160707150958.htm
• Contrary to popular belief, artificial sweeteners do not help you loose weight. Sucralose is a component of artificial sweeteners which affects the brain when ingested. The sweet sensation is linked with the energy content inside the brain’s reward centre. When this balance is disrupted due to an increase in the sweet sensation from sucralose, this spurs the animal to eat more food, increasing its calorie intake. Unfortunately, artificial sweeteners were prescribed to treat obesity despite unknown side effects.
www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/07/160712130107.htm