agriculture review
by aditya abhishek
Cultivating any crop on Earth is not considered a miracle, but in space, conditions are not so favorable for growing crops.
In the absence of ozone and a suitable atmosphere, temperature, gases, water, sunlight of specific wavelengths, and soil, cultivating any crop is a challenge.
However, it is not the first time that an astronaut has grown a crop in space. Earlier, they have successfully grown lettuce, zinnia, Chinese cabbage, kale, mustard, etc.
To survive and dwell for long in space, our astronauts cannot completely rely on packaged food; we need to invent ways to grow food in space to sustain life there.
Astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla successfully cultivated Fenugreek and Green Gram in Petri dishes aboard the International Space Station.
The sprouts experiment is led by two scientists: Ravikumar Hosamani of University of Agriculture Sciences, Dharwad & Sudheer Siddapureddy of IIT, Dharwad.
Once returned to earth, the seeds will be grown over several generations to look for changes in their genetics, nutrient profiles and microbial ecosystem.
In another experiment, Astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla also deployed and stowed microalgae to investigate their potential to produce food, oxygen and biofuels.
thanks for reading!