One of the major consequences of climate change is the gradual reduction in cultivable areas across the planet. More and more environments, previously conducive to agricultural crops, today present difficult or even extreme conditions (desertification, intense rains, acidity, etc.). This is why the Nanoracks company has launched a space greenhouse project in order to develop crops resistant to the most difficult land conditions, with the aim of being able to use these new plants on Earth and cultivate extreme environments in which crops conventional would wither away.
Commercial space services company Nanoracks plans to use orbiting greenhouses to create ultra-resilient crops that would thrive in the planet's harshest environments and help stave off the looming food crisis resulting from climate change, the company said. in 2020.
The Houston, Texas-based company signed a contract with the Abu Dhabi Investment Office (ADIO) to open a space agriculture research center in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) that would research resilient crops, would send into space and test the ability of crops to grow in arid conditions on our planet.
Mutations of cultures in space: a process already in use
According to Nanoracks CEO and co-founder Jeffrey Manber, this work builds on decades of research that shows that new mutations in plant DNA can emerge in the harsh environment of space, which could then lead to the creation of new varieties capable of thriving even in difficult conditions on Earth.
Lunar water: it would be partly brought by the terrestrial magnetosphere
“ There have been many articles published over the years showing specific cases where, in the harsh environment of space, some interesting biomass products emerge and can perform very well even in desert conditions. These plants evolve in space either by changes at the genetic level, or by the effects of radiation, the absence of gravity or a combination of all these factors, ”explains Manber.
Video explaining how plants adapt to space:
According to Liu Luxiang, of the Institute of Crop Sciences of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, China has developed and approved more than 200 varieties of spatially mutated crops for agriculture since the 1990s. In fact, the second most popular wheat variety currently grown in China, Luyuan 502, was developed through spatial breeding.
“ Using seeds and other plant material sent into space on recoverable satellites, manned space missions and high-altitude platforms, we have developed varieties of various crops, including vegetables, wheat, corn and soybeans. Through DNA mutations that occur in space and subsequent selections, we have created strains that have higher yields, better nutrient profiles, and better disease resistance, and which also require less water or tolerate higher temperatures , ”explains Luxiang.
Enabling agricultural crops in extreme environments
China is investing in various plant breeding technologies to ensure it will be able to feed its population of nearly 1.4 billion amid the evolving climate change. The UAE, which currently imports 90% of the country's food, is targeting space for similar reasons. With 80% of the country made up of deserts and an overall lack of freshwater resources, only about 5% of the UAE is currently cultivated, according to 2016 data from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. .
“ Research on food production in extreme conditions of space may hold the key to improving our capabilities in desert and arid climates. This is why we are supporting Nanoracks as they explore agricultural innovation in space that can be applied to food production in the planet's extreme climates , ”