LIT experiment takes farming to new frontier

Limerick Institute of Technology has created Irish space history after an experiment that could deliver a breakthrough to successfully growing crops in extreme conditions on Earth was loaded on the International Space Station.

The project, which was chosen along with eight other global winners will explore over the next 28 days how the clover-like payload reacts in space and whether or not it can be used as a natural fertiliser for crops there. This is the first time an Irish institution has been a leader and principal investigator in an experiment to the International Space Station.

The research is led by Gary Stutte, who for the past three years has been on secondment as a Marie Curie Research Fellow to the Controlled Environment Laboratory for Life Science at the Institute. The SpaceX-CRS 4/ Dragon berthed on the International Space Station last week and the experiment was loaded and commenced on Saturday.

If proven in space, the application may also be replicated on Earth, potentially leading to a major breakthrough for sustainable farming of crops in harsh environments, including in existing barren lands in the developing world and reduce the use of synthetic fertilisers on Earth.

Additionally, the research could lead to crops such as peas, radishes and lettuces, being grown in space. This could assist dietary requirements for astronauts delivering a more balanced menu than the current freeze-dried foods option.

“This is new-frontier research at its best as it is essentially trying to explore ways of assisting humankind,” said Prof Stutte. “We could be advancing the building of space farms of the future arising from this research.

“There is already red lettuce up there growing and my thumbprint is on that, so this is looking at the value of a naturally occurring fertiliser for crops.

“It may well also arrive at some extremely positive findings with regard to advancing farming in extreme conditions on Earth.”

Joining Prof Stutte at the Kennedy Space Centre, Cape Canaveral for the experiment was the institute’s post-graduate Adam Shinners, who is researching the effect of micro-gravity on production of chemicals that may prevent the loss of bone and muscle mass in space. Speaking after the experiment was loaded, Mr Shinners said that nothing beat the excitement of working with Nasa.

“This was an amazing opportunity. I gained some real perspective on working in space, perspective I could not have gained anywhere else,” he said. “Being involved in a project that has just flown to the International Space Station is more than I dreamed of when I started.”

Meanwhile, experts have warned that protecting the diversity of the world’s crops is “fundamental” for ensuring food security in the face of climate change, experts have warned.

Governments, businesses, foundations and wealthy individuals are being urged to contribute to a €700m endowment fund which will pay to conserve different crop varieties in perpetuity.

The call is being made by the Global Crop Diversity Trust, an international organisation working to ensure conservation and availability of crop diversity around the world, supporting gene banks.

The trust also manages the Svalbard Global Seed Vault, which stores 825,000 crops as a back-up to other centres where crop varieties are stored and which can be vulnerable, such as the Aleppo gene bank in Syria.