The project Grow is the result of two years of plant biologists’ work with artist and designer Daan Roosegaarde. With the project, sunlight is imitated in a field of 20 thousand square meters and a “light recipe” is offered that enables plants to grow better.
This light recipe is a combination of blue and red light with ultraviolet (UV) radiation. 4 units working with solar energy in the field spread a special spectrum to vegetables.
Red and blue light is currently used in greenhouses and vertical farming to improve the growth of plants and maximize yields. However, the plants grow outside in the field in Leystad city.
Plant photobiologist Jason Wargent, who was involved in the project, said that seeds or seedlings were given combinations of certain types of UV, improving the plants’ ability to protect themselves against pests and diseases. He stated that internal mechanisms that will increase the productivity of plants in the long term can be triggered.
The light acts as an informative clue. UV is very specific in terms of the biology the plant targets within. Therefore, it activates things that other lights cannot trigger. This is a hidden and invisible but very powerful process.
The use of fertilizers with insecticides can cause pollution in water and soil. So Wargent thinks the light recipe could be the “next big revolution in agriculture”:
Farmers now need a variety of tools to increase yields. This clean alternative can reduce the need for chemicals that are costly, time-consuming to develop and can pollute the environment. With the programmable light recipe, we unlock the ability of plants to bloom and grow at no cost.
“Light is my language. Light is communication, not decoration. Stating that it can act and the plants are very sensitive to it, Roosegaarde plans to organize tours to 40 countries and introduce the technology after the Kovid-19 measures are eased:
From the rice fields in China to the wheat fields in the USA, we can create a light recipe suitable for every local food production.
Roosegaarde’s studio is also working on a project called Urban Sun, which aims to clean up the coronavirus in a public place. In the project, it is planned to clear a certain area from the virus with ultraviolet light with a wavelength of 222 nanometers.
The artist thinks that the initiative can be used in festivals and other events. On the other hand, the studio reported that Urban Sun can only use it at night.
Independent Türkçe, The Guardian, My Çağıl Met, DutchNews.nl
Compiled by: Uğurcan Yıldız
Source: https://www.indyturk.com
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