Chinese researchers say large field trials using irrigation water treated with sunlight-activated natural minerals produced sharp yield increases in several major crops. The results have not yet been independently reviewed or repeated.
The trials were reported by the South China Morning Post on 2 October and are led by Lu Anhuai, a professor at Peking University's School of Earth and Space Sciences. They ran from Heilongjiang in the north-east to Hainan in the south, on rice, wheat, soybeans, peanuts, sweet potatoes, sugar cane and vegetables. By the scientists' own figures, rice yields rose by up to 40.6 percent, wheat by 24.7 percent, sugar cane by 45.7 percent and sweet potatoes by 109.5 percent in one trial plot.
In the method, irrigation water passes over natural mineral surfaces activated by sunlight before it reaches the field. Lu said the approach improves how efficiently plants use sunlight for photosynthesis, rather than changing the plant's genes or the soil's nutrients, and called it "a new track" for raising farm output alongside better varieties and fertiliser.
Caution is needed. The numbers come from the research team, relayed through a single media report, and do not appear to have gone through peer review or been reproduced by other institutions. The gains also vary widely between crops and plots, from the mid-20s for wheat to more than 100 percent for one sweet potato plot, a spread that invites questions about trial design and measurement. Single-season results in crop trials often shrink when tested across more seasons, soils and climates.
If the results hold, the technique would matter because it would not ask farmers to change seed, buy new machines or spend more on fertiliser. China has made raising its own grain and oilseed output a priority to cut its reliance on imported soybeans, maize and feed grains, and a cheap water treatment would fit that aim, particularly for its many small and mid-sized farms.
Source: Global Agriculture
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