With all the buzz around environmental impact caused by modern agriculture, it's high time we start looking into sustainable solutions for our food production. Luckily for us, there are some pretty cool space-inspired technologies and sustainable resource management practices that can help us transform the way we grow food and create a more sustainable and resilient food system.
How Does Resource Management Look Like Today?
Cultivating crops takes a lot of water. In fact, most of our freshwater resources go towards agriculture. This means that regions with water scarcity issues have constantly low productivity, and stunted economic growth. On top of that, these regions are also expanding, due to climate change, its unpredictable rainfall patterns, and its frequent drought periods.
Water is only one of the resources we use inefficiently. The energy required to run all the heavy machinery used by the traditional methods of crop management is significant, and can make the costs very high for farmers. Thus, is not only bad for the environment, but also for the economy.
Land conversion into farmland is another aspect that destroys ecosystems and threatens natural biodiversity. Without a healthy ecosystem, we can’t have air and water purification, or soil formation and nutrient cycling.
What is the Role Of Space-Inspired Technologies?
Satellites
The space sector has always been heavy on remote sensing technologies, for example satellites. This technology can tell us a lot about crop health, weather patterns, and soil moisture, and can give farmers real-time information on their fields. That way, farmers can take better decisions on irrigating or fertilising their fields, and even on using pest control. Information is power, and in this case it can increase yield and reduce waste.
Imaging
Another spinoff of space tech used for agriculture is imaging technologies, such as hyperspectral imaging and fluorescence imaging. These techniques allow us to detect things otherwise invisible to the human eye, because they process a different type of light. Specifically, we can collect information on nutrient levels, and on plant health - think of a blood test but for plants. Early signs of plant stress and diseases can be unveiled, and then experts can plan targeted and efficient interventions.
Drones
Drones are also frequently encountered in space missions, and they can be part of the future of agriculture. We can get really high-resolution images that can tell us a lot about crop health and water conditions, and that knowledge can help farmers make precise decisions on crop management. It's possible to use drones for precision spraying too, reducing the amount of chemicals used.
Life Support Systems
Space has driven innovation and creativity, there is no other way to survive it. Bioregenerative life support systems are one solution we came up with to facilitate the sustenance of life. Such systems use closed-loop cycles of energy, water, and nutrients to enable the survival of plants and animals. This means that resources like food and oxygen become renewable, and, if applied towards sustainable food and resource production on Earth, our reliance on fossil fuels can be reduced.
Water Recycling
Water recycling has been essential for space exploration, but the technology doesn’t have to be space-exclusive. On the contrary, it can be applied to various settings, including agriculture. Wastewater recycling and purification is turning water into a renewable resource, making automatically practices like groundwater pumping and damming sustainable.
Aeroponics and Hydroponics
Aeroponics and hydroponics are innovative space technologies, applicable to indoor farming on Earth. The idea is to grow plants without soil – only nutrient-rich water or mist. This practice is highly sustainable because it involves tight control of the environment in which plants grow, so there’s room for a lot of optimizations. Perfect for space-restricted areas and urban settings, aeroponics and hydroponics can make us less reliant on soil-based farming.
What Challenges Are Ahead Of Us?
The biggest obstacle when it comes to widespread application of space-inspired technologies is the scalability issue. Their complexity and the specialised components, as well as the infrastructure and the technical expertise needed raise the costs at levels of impossible financial investments.
However, economies of scale can come into play and balance things out. In addition, the more open we are to earth-based space tech applications, the more research and development is going to be funded to this end, and that can bring improvements that will reduce costs. And while these might be out of our influence, there is one solution that is up to us: open-source technology. Sharing software and hardware designs enables more people to participate in the development and usage of technology, encouraging quick and efficient innovation as we all contribute to a better future.