Saturday 11 March 2017

Scientists Grow Potatoes In Conditions Similar To Those Of The Mars in Peru


LIMA: Potatoes on Mars? Scientists report promising results by growing the tuber under conditions that mimic the Red Planet in an experiment in Peru linked to US space agency NASA.

"The preliminary results are positive," said the International Potato Center (CIP) this week after a potato grew under simulated conditions of Mars atmosphere in an experiment in Lima.

The CIP, in a report, said that the potato was planted in a specially constructed CubeSat content environment built by engineers from the University of Engineering and Technology in Lima.

The experiment was conducted from February 14th to March 5th.

"Growing plants under conditions similar to those of Mars is an important step in this experiment," said Julio Valdivia-Silva, Peru's astrobiologist in Lima UTEC, who previously worked at NASA.

"If crops can tolerate extreme conditions that we are exposing them to in our CubeSat, they have a good chance to grow on Mars," he said, adding that several sets of experiments will take place to find out which potato varieties do best .

Potatoes, one of the major food crops in the world, was first cultivated by the Incas Indians in Peru around 8000 to 5000 BC.

The potential ability of potatoes to grow under these conditions could signal promise for the food supplies in the context of climate change and extreme environments.

"The results indicate that our efforts to develop high-potential varieties to improve food security in areas that are affected or will be affected by climate change, are working," said CIP Walter Amoros potato breeder.

The customized environment for project potatoes on Mars is based on designs and advice provided by NASA.

Scientists "concluded that future missions to Mars hoping to grow the potatoes should prepare the ground with a loose structure and nutrients to allow the tubers to get enough air and water so that it can tuberize", Said CIP.

They used very dry soils found in the desert of southern Peru, nothing they are the most Mars-like soils found on Earth.

The CIP experiment is set to last five years.

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