Scientists from the Netherlands have carried out studies that have shown that vegetables grow well in soil taken on Mars. This information appeared on the pages of the foreign site The Independent.
A group of Dutch researchers took samples of Martian soil and tried to grow vegetables on it, with the result that the attempt was crowned with success. Scientists managed to grow several varieties of vegetables, among which there are tomatoes, peas, radishes, and rye, the soil was obtained from scientists from the American space agency NASA.
The quality and quantity of the crop grown on soil taken on Mars matched vegetables grown on ordinary potting compost. With the right watering, hilling and tending vegetables, Martian soil can produce bountiful crops, according to leading expert Wiger Womlink of Wageningen University. The scientist put forward the assumption back in 2013, conducting experiments for 50 days with soil identical to the Martian soil, extracted from volcanic rocks in the Hawaiian Islands.
In the soil mined on Mars, scientists have found a number of important chemical elements for plant growth, such as nitrogen, iron oxide and phosphorus. The main problem of ensuring plant growth in Martian conditions is the problem with the delivery of water to the plant roots due to low gravity, including the development of new life support systems and the supply of light energy. Wiger Womlink believes that NASA and Wageningen University will establish a complete system for growing vegetables on Mars over the next ten years.