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The agricultural sector is faced with great challenges brought about by climate change and population growth including water scarcity and agrichemical delivery inefficiencies. Water scarcity is a pressing issue in agriculture, leading to low yields and crop failures whereas inefficiencies in agrichemical delivery also result in major environmental and public health issues.

There is an urgent necessity to develop effective irrigation strategies, which utilize minimal water usage and optimize the delivery of agrichemicals for crop growth. To this effect, in this project we propose the development of an electrospray/electrospinning-based interdisciplinary approach termed “Electroponics’ which can be used for the precise delivery of water and nutrients in a soilless setting, coupled with seeds coated with electrospun nanofibers made from sustainable nature derived biopolymers which can optimize the agrichemical delivery and plant growth.

A scaled-up electroponics system will also be developed and assessed in a field study in terms of its ability to enhance plant growth using minimal amounts of water and agrichemicals.The proposed innovative platform for the precision delivery of water and agrichemicals using electrospray/electrospinning approaches which can be used as an alternative tohydroponics/aeroponics can be used in urban agriculture systems, and can be a game-changing approach that can help in both climate resiliency and food security. The scientific knowledge gained in the project can impact and inform more efficient farm practices and enhance food security at a global scale.

Source: United States Department of Agriculture – Research, Education and Economics Information System – August 7, 2024