Name: Desert bacteria could help boost crop yields
Author: Wagdy Sawahel
Date: 06.02.2013.
Publication: Environmental News Network
Author: Wagdy Sawahel
Date: 06.02.2013.
Publication: Environmental News Network
Researches from the UAE (United Arab Emirates) isolated strains tolerant to drought and salt of Rhizobia - a bacteria that fixates nitrogen once it is inside the root of legumes. There is a possibility that this bacteria could help with stopping desertification in arid Middle East, as well as North Africa. It could boost agriculture in those regions as well.
The bacteria lives in a symbiosis with their host, as they exchange nitrogen produced by the plant during photosynthesis. This is used for improving the soil quality. This discovery could lead to improvement of production of leguminous plants which are common in arid environments (according to a study published by the Emirates Journal of Food and Agriculture in february, carried out by researchers from the Dubai-based International Center for Biosaline Agriculture and the Birla Institute of Technology and Science from Dubai)
This article deals with a similar topic as one of my earlier ones, and I decided to talk about it as I feel that dealing with desertification is an important issue. I'm glad that more and more countries are finding ways to stop it, and boos agriculture.
I agree, stopping desertification is an important issue. Using bacteria to help plant growth is a fascinating concept, that could revolutionize agriculture. However, would the bacteria be effected by pesticides used to control weed growth and insect populations?
ReplyDeleteDefinitely agree. Did they imply at how they will be using the bacteria to help plant growth? Will they be biologically engineering the legumes with the bacteria's DNA? It will be interesting to see if they in fact use this as well as combine the pesticide retardant gene as well... Oh the things we could grow in the desert...
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