Booth Id:
PLNT020
Category:
Plant Sciences
Year:
2024
Finalist Names:
Hughes, Quinn (School: Minnetonka High School)
Abstract:
To establish long-term human presence on Mars, a method for sustainable agriculture utilizing in-situ resources and minimal fostering materials from Earth must be developed. This study aimed to grow Trifolium repens in a Mars Global (Regolith) Simulant, or MGS-1, substrate that yields dry plant biomass statistically non-inferior to control plants grown in Earth soil. Previous research has established that growing plants in 100% MGS-1 is not possible. Previous studies combining regolith simulant with mixtures of 50% soil or more have produced plant biomass inferior to control biomass. Pre-experimental analysis of the chemical and physical properties of MGS-1 indicated that a variety of augmentation is needed to support agriculture in Martian regolith including acidification, nitrogen fortification, microbe introduction, humus creation and drainage. This experiment tested different methods including mixing MGS-1 with highly-expandable coco-coir (coconut waste) and minimal Earth soil as well as integration of plant biomass as biofertilizer for subsequent crops after each of four 12-week growth cycles. After growth cycle 1 (G1), fewer than half of the treatments survived and all were statistically lower in average dry biomass than the control (p<0.01). After G2, plant biomass increased significantly (>2X). After G3, one treatment combination surpassed the control in average dry biomass and the null hypothesis was rejected. This novel approach using just 4% Earth soil and a waste product is the first method to successfully grow plants in augmented MGS-1 non-inferior to Earth-grown crops. This ongoing research has applications on Earth to support declining ecosystems and mining restoration.