The ground-breaking University of Greenwich research pilot study, ‘Feeding Mars’, led by Professor Benz Kotzen, looked at the possibility of growing self-sustaining food on Mars.
With the increasing possibility of human life moving to the Moon and then to Mars, the study was devised to examine feasibility using aquaponics. Aquaponics is a food production system that pairs aquaculture (raising aquatic animals such as fish in tanks) with hydroponics (cultivating plants in water) so that the nutrient-rich water from the aquaculture part is passed to the hydroponic part to grow the plants.
The research examined producing both fish and vegetables through the aquaponics system as well as adding effluents (liquid waste) from the aquaponics to Martian soils. This is because effluents are mineral rich and Martian soil is naturally devoid of organic material and thus lacking the microbes which are necessary to assist in the delivery of water and nutrients to the plants via their roots.
Professor Kotzen said:
‘In order to settle on Mars, settlers will have to grow their own food in systems that are self-perpetuating, with little or no inputs being brought from Earth once these systems have been established. This means that nutrients from the fish water can be used to grow plants in the hydroponic parts of the aquaponic system but also potentially in the Martian regoliths (eroded bed rock) which are treated with effluents taken from aquaponic systems. Once production is established additional nutrients can be sourced from the arisings and waste, both from the fish (that are processed and eaten) and the plants, which can be used as compost to turn the regoliths into soil.’
The researchers were successfully able to grow potatoes, tomatoes, dwarf beans, carrots, lettuce, spring onions, chives and basil thus proving that the nutrients added to the soil provided the nutrients required for growth. Professor Kotzen notes that the importance of this research is not just for extra-terrestrial environments but also for the Earth which has its own hostile environments with unproductive and lifeless soils, where aquaponic systems can be used to grow nutritious food and provide effluent waters in areas where agriculture is difficult or currently unviable.
The research was undertaken in an exhibition gallery setting at the University of Greenwich to encourage public interest and dialogue, which it did.
Note: This article was originally posted on the 25th March 2024.
