Scientists have innovatively incorporated electricity into hydroponics, resulting in a groundbreaking soilless cultivation technique that purportedly enhances the growth of barley seedlings by an impressive average of 50 percent within a span of just 15 days.
Hydroponics, a cultivation method that eliminates the need for soil, substitutes it with sterile media like rock wool, vermiculite, sand, gravel, clay pellets, and perlite to ensure root stability.
This pioneering approach marks a significant milestone, as it introduces electrical stimulation to plant roots within the hydroponic growing medium for the very first time.
The hydroponic method allows water to be recirculated. It therefore requires very little water and space compared to other traditional methods. Crops such as lettuce, herbs and some vegetables are already grown in this way. However, cereals have not been used in hydroponics, except in a few cases where they have been used as feed.
"The world's population is growing and we also have climate change. So it's clear that we won't be able to meet the planet's food needs with existing agricultural methods alone," says Eleni Stavrinidou, associate professor at Linkoping University in Sweden.
According to Stavrinidou, the research will expand the range of crops suitable for hydroponic cultivation and demonstrate the potential for more efficient growth with fewer resources.
"In this way, we can make seedlings grow faster with fewer resources. We don't yet know how it works, what biological mechanisms are involved. What we have found is that the seedlings process nitrogen more efficiently, but it's not yet clear how the electrical stimulation affects this process," Starvrinidou added.
"We can't say that hydroponics will solve the problem of food security. But it can definitely help particularly in areas with little arable land and with harsh environmental conditions," the professor concluded.