An Ancient Maya Practice Could Be the Key to Growing Vegetables on Mars

[Judi Lynn]

Researchers are exploring whether intercropping—a technique of growing different types of plants in close proximity to one another—could be the secret to agriculture on the Red Planet

Sarah Kuta
Daily Correspondent

May 6, 2024



Scientists experimented with planting tomatoes, peas and carrots together and separately in several types of soil. Gonçalves et al. / Plos One, 2024


If humans build settlements on Mars, how will they feed ourselves? Waiting on deliveries from Earth would take too long and costs would be exorbitant, since getting to the Red Planet is currently a nine-month one-way journey. On top of that, dehydrating foodstuff—the best preservation method for perishables sent to space—removes vital nutrients.

More than likely, Martian settlers will need to grow their own food.

Researchers are now exploring how best to optimize crop yield on Mars using intercropping, a technique perfected by Maya farmers centuries ago that involves growing multiple plants in close proximity to one another. Their findings—published this month in the journal Plos One—could not only benefit the pioneers who end up colonizing the Red Planet, but also farmers here on Earth amid a rapidly changing climate.

Building upon past research, scientists at Wageningen University & Research in the Netherlands conducted greenhouse experiments that mimicked the conditions of similar structures that could eventually be built on Mars.

Inside the greenhouses, they filled pots with a mixture of rocks, dust and sand, known as regolith, that simulates Martian soil. Separately, they also filled some pots with standard potting soil and some with river sand. They added a small amount of organic soil to both the regolith and river sand pots to help improve water retention and root growth.

More:
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/an-ancient-maya-farming-technique-could-be-the-secret-to-growing-crops-on-mars-180984276

[RockRaven]

1. There's a lot of cart before the horse going on here.

Studies like these use 'simulated Martian regolith' not only because we don't have the real stuff but also because the real stuff has lots of perchlorates in it (approx 0.5% by mass). And perchlorates are toxic to humans and plants at those levels. So "removing perchlorates from regolith at industrial scale, quickly enough, all the way over there on the surface of Mars" is a problem to solve before you worry about what/how to plant your first crops in it. Also the whole "greenhouses like they will use on Mars" thing is assuming/ignoring a ton, but I shall not digress on that further...

Knowing more about how best to use intercropping is important, yes, and a hell of a lot more relevant to humans here on Earth than some pie in the sky supposed long term residents of Mars some day. But that framing is sexier, so probably gets more attention, funding, or clout. Kind of like how all basic science research in cell and molecular biology is framed as being important for cancer even when it is more relevant to other things or just interesting for its own sake.

[Marcus IM]

2. More techbro pod fraud.

Who knew that Mayan tech would be good on Mars?

Lol

[Irish_Dem]

3. I guess figuring out how to feed humans on Earth is not important.

With climate change, it is going to be harder for crops to survive.
Food may be a real issue before too long.

[Warpy]

4. The real problem will be the Martian soil

Not only is the chemistry different from that of earth soil, it lacks the microbes, worms, and other beneficial critters that keep the soil healthy. They're going to have to grow everything hudroponically until there's enough waste to compost into soil they can grow things in. Earth soil rich in microbes and beneficial critters will have to be imported to add to it.

Growing stuff doesn't have to be all that finicky here on Earth, but other planets are going to present exofarmers with a pretty steep learning curve.

However, companion planting and intensive gardening are both well known here in the US, especially among organic gardeners. It's how I got enough out of a 10X10 foot plot to feed two people over the growing season, plus have things to can and freeze at the end of it. The techniques are more suitable to small plots than big farms and require careful attention to soil health. The first thing any exofarmer is going to have to do is create Earth like soil to grow Earth crops.