NETHERLANDS – Dutch farmer, Marc Van Rijsselberghe, has been working with scientists from the Free University of Amsterdam to conduct an experiment to determine if it is possible to grow produce using salt water.
Van Rijsselberghe tells Voice of America (VOA) that, “We put a lot of plants in the field and then we put them in fresh water and in sea water and all varieties between it, and then we see which variety is surviving and which variety is dying.”
To conduct the experiment, Van Rijsselberghe and his team divided a farm into eight plots covered with a network of irrigation pipes. According to VOA, the separate pipes bring fresh water and sea water to a distribution center where a computer-controlled system then mixes irrigation water with eight different levels of salinity.
The group used numerous sensors to control soil salinity and moisture. Van Rijsselberghe tells VOA that they were able to harvest vegetables from most of the test plots but they were, however, smaller than normal and contained more sugar and salt.
The farm was able to grow carrots, cabbage, onions, beetroot and potatoes, with the potatoes being more tolerant to the saline. Van Rijsselberghe says that four different varieties of salt-tolerant potatoes were recently shipped to Pakistan where thousands of hectares of land damaged by salinization are being prepared to test the Dutch potatoes.
Check out this video from VOA to see the process in action:
It will most certainly be interesting to what, if anything, comes from this experiment. What do you think? Let us know by voting in the survey below. Stay tuned to AndNowUKnow for any further updates.
