Among the challenges faced by many countries is finding ways to grow plants, especially with the weather and climate being so uncertain. Difficulties are also seen when the soil itself is less fertile and makes it more difficult to diversify crops for people to use.
Recently, several researchers at Linköping University in Sweden have succeeded in developing "bioelectronic soil" that can be used to accelerate plant growth at a rate of 50 percent.
These researchers have succeeded in creating a "bioelectronic soil" that combines ordinary soil with a polymer component called PEDOT that is commonly seen in hardware such as scanners and OLED displays. Just like these tools, the use of PEDOT in this bioelectric soil is to conduct electricity in the soil.
Tested in a hydroponic lot, this bioelectronic soil is used to grow barley seeds after a small amount of electricity (0.5V) is passed through it. The study by these researchers found that the barley seeds began to grow 50 percent faster compared to the seeds that did not receive the electric shock, where the barley that used this bioelectronic soil was seen to be larger after 15 days.
It was reported that with the flow of electricity, these barley seeds were found to absorb nitrogen at a more efficient rate. This helps in accelerating the growth of the seeds. However, these researchers do not know why this happens at this time.
With further research, it is expected that this bioelectric soil can not only help farmers to grow more crops throughout the year, but also reduce dependence on fertilizers and water, especially since this bioelectric soil uses hydroponic techniques to grow plants.