Seaweed holds a reputation as a nutrient rich superfood, providing a wide range of vitamins, minerals, lipids, proteins and trace elements for the human body. But for what other reasons has this marine plant gained popularity? Apart from its use as a source of food, it has agricultural, medicinal, cosmetic and energy production purposes.
Amongst all these uses, exploring the agricultural aspect would be apt considering the damage that chemical pesticides are causing currently. The biodegradable and non-polluting seaweed extracts are applied as soil drench or foliar spray to promote growth and increase yield of plants. An article published in ScienceDirect investigated the effect of seaweed on the growth and yield of Glycine max (Soybean). 7 different concentrations of dilute seaweed were sprayed and the plant height, no.of pods, weight and grain yield were measured. Their results demonstrated that all growth parameters increased steadily with an increase in concentration with the 15.0% concentration significantly higher than the other treatments for highest no.of pods, weight and no.of grains. Concentrations below 5% were not significantly affected by the spray. They concluded that the increased growth was caused by the enhanced uptake of macro and micro nutrients.
Countless other studies have provided similar results proving that seaweed can be a key factor in sustainability. Fertilisers from seaweed can lead to improvement in soil and plant health, turning it into a valuable commodity said to read 17.1 million USD by 2025. Due to this reason, conducting experiments and research in this field might be
Research:
Rathore, S. S., et al. “Effect of Seaweed Extract on the Growth, Yield and Nutrient Uptake of Soybean (Glycine Max) under Rain-fed Conditions.” South African Journal of Botany, vol. 75, no. 2, Elsevier BV, Apr. 2009, pp. 351–355. Crossref, doi:10.1016/j.sajb.2008.10.009.
Other article used:
Bradley, Mattia. “Will Seaweeds Shape The Future Of Agriculture?” Medium, Pollen, 27 Jan. 2021, medium.com/pollen/will-seaweeds-shape-the-future-of-agriculture-e947947ddd49.
Image:
“6 Most Common Varieties Of Edible Seaweed.” MICHELIN Guide, guide.michelin.com/en/article/dining-in/6-edible-delicious-varieties-of-seaweed.
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