A nature-inspired, wax-coated sand could help improve this Food production in the desert while freshwater resources are declining. At least that’s what researchers at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) think. Saudi Arabiawho have published the results of their research on ACS Agricultural Science & Technology.
Many arid countries face serious water security problems. In desert regions like Saudi Arabia, high temperatures and dry winds accelerate evaporation from the soil and increase transpiration by plants, which consequently need additional water to maintain their ideal temperature and absorb nutrients. That farmers rely on unsustainable levels of watering to meet the growing evapotranspiration needs of their crops.
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“With over 70% of the country’s freshwater resources used for agriculture, theand aquifers, which supply 90% of irrigation water, are being irrevocably depleted‘ he explained Kennedy Odokonyero, Postdoc at KAUST. In some arid countries, plastic sheeting is used to reduce evaporation, but eventually the plastic ends up in landfills.
In 2016, Himanshu Mishra and colleagues developed superhydrophobic sand (dubbed SandX), a bio-inspired material that contains Grains of sand or sandy soil coated with a layer of nanoscale paraffin wax. The roughness of the sand combined with the naturally water-repellent wax creates an extremely water-repellent (superhydrophobic) surface.
“A 5-10mm layer of SandX applied as a mulch to damp soil significantly reduces evaporation,” explains Mishra. A four-year field study of mulching with SandX by tomato plants, Grain and just in western Saudi Arabia showed that “SandX significantly improved plant health, size and yields under normal irrigation conditions”.
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Further research by Mishra’s team examined the effects of SandX on tomato plants (Solanum lycopersicum) grown under controlled, desert-like conditions, alongside a group of untreated tomatoes for comparison. They monitored water consumption, plant size, and the physiological health of plant roots, shoots, and fruits under normal and reduced watering conditions. Surprisingly, the combined balance of evaporation and transpiration remained the same in treated and untreated plants. However, mulching with SandX reduced evaporation losses by almost 80%which improves transpiration and benefits plants in both irrigation scenarios.
I study
Alessandro Berlingeri