An Apeeling New Technique to Sustainably Grow Potatoes
By: Valeria Macias
Summary of results
Antibiotic Resistant Bacteria (ARB) and Antibiotic Resistance Genes (ARG) are endangering the food security of the fourth largest food crop, potatoes. A recent study, examined how waste materials such as maize biochar and sulfate modified eggshells could decrease the ARBs and ARGs in potatoes based on their porous area and absorption abilities. The study also sought out to find which of the two materials serves as the best solution to minimize potential health hazards associated with the consumption of potatoes. The scientists collected the contaminated soil samples from a dairy farm in China. Treatment samples were cultivated for 140-days, using the following treatment plans: contaminated soil-potato (SP), contaminated soil-biochar-potato (SPB), and contaminated soil-eggshell-potato (SPE). The antibiotics (contaminants) in the soil decreased with treatments SPE and SPB compared to SP. Endophytic bacteria, which is a potential risk and a threat to food security, was decreased in SPE and SPB. Potato qualities such as weight, starch, and protein concentrations were lower in SP compared to potatoes grown in biochar and eggshells. Biochar was shown as the stronger material to increase potato quality and increase vitamins, it provided more moisture which led to a better nutrient cycling that the eggshells. Although SPB is more efficient than SPE in providing potato quality and security, the price is much higher than eggshells. Also heavy metals can be found in biochar, which can cause additional problems. These new techniques for growing potatoes could have a positive impact towards the global food crisis. Further research may be explored to find ways to use these techniques on other crops to have environmental sustainability.
Antibiotic Resistant Bacteria (ARB) and Antibiotic Resistance Genes (ARG) are endangering the food security of the fourth largest food crop, potatoes. A recent study, examined how waste materials such as maize biochar and sulfate modified eggshells could decrease the ARBs and ARGs in potatoes based on their porous area and absorption abilities. The study also sought out to find which of the two materials serves as the best solution to minimize potential health hazards associated with the consumption of potatoes. The scientists collected the contaminated soil samples from a dairy farm in China. Treatment samples were cultivated for 140-days, using the following treatment plans: contaminated soil-potato (SP), contaminated soil-biochar-potato (SPB), and contaminated soil-eggshell-potato (SPE). The antibiotics (contaminants) in the soil decreased with treatments SPE and SPB compared to SP. Endophytic bacteria, which is a potential risk and a threat to food security, was decreased in SPE and SPB. Potato qualities such as weight, starch, and protein concentrations were lower in SP compared to potatoes grown in biochar and eggshells. Biochar was shown as the stronger material to increase potato quality and increase vitamins, it provided more moisture which led to a better nutrient cycling that the eggshells. Although SPB is more efficient than SPE in providing potato quality and security, the price is much higher than eggshells. Also heavy metals can be found in biochar, which can cause additional problems. These new techniques for growing potatoes could have a positive impact towards the global food crisis. Further research may be explored to find ways to use these techniques on other crops to have environmental sustainability.
Jiao, W., Du, R., Ye, M., Sun, M., Feng, Y., Wan, J., Zhao, Y., Zhang, Z., Huang, D., Du, D., and Jiang, X. 2018. ‘Agricultural waste to treasure’ - biochar and eggshell to impede soil antibiotics/antibiotic resistant bacteria (genes) from accumulating in solanum tuberosum l.Environmental Pollution. doi:10.1016/j.envpol.2018.06.059
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