'Common forms of plasma products include plasma torches and plasma televisions but new forms of plasma, often called “cold” or non-thermal plasma, are now being investigated by companies such as APS for applications in medicine, environmental control, sterilization, waste to energy, and agriculture.'
- Vadim Fedorovsky,
Technology Innovation in Agriculture using the 4th state of matter: “Plasma”'Obtaining high yields in agricultural production is essential due to the world’s population growth and increased food demand; but at the same time, adverse effects of agriculture on the environment need to be kept to a minimum.
Low temperature plasmas (LTPs) show promise as efficient green technologies for enhancing productivity while maintaining good food quality and safety in the many steps of the food cycle. As a result, applications of LTPs in agriculture have led to creation of a new, rapidly developing field called “plasma agriculture.”
Increasing agricultural productivity—caused by population growth—and closing the yield gap between real yields and potential yields plus taking into account protection of the environment, must be addressed with novel approaches.
One such approach is to use LTPs in agriculture (“Plasma Agriculture”), whereby plasma can boost yield in a robust way without demanding more water or more chemical fertilizer. In other words, Plasma Agriculture potentially offers increased production with less impact on ecosystem, by suppressing plant diseases and enhancing crop yields.'
- Bette Nijboer,
The Rapid Emergence of Plasma Agriculture, February 10, 2018
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Sustainable agriculture 101OK, so sustainable agriculture is the wave of the future. But what is it, exactly?
In agriculture, sustainability is a complex idea with many facets, including the economic (a sustainable farm should be a profitable business that contributes to a robust economy), the social (it should deal fairly with its workers and have a mutually beneficial relationship with the surrounding community), and the environmental.
Environmental sustainability in agriculture means good stewardship of the natural systems and resources that farms rely on. Among other things, this involves:
- Building and maintaining healthy soil
- Managing water wisely
- Minimizing air, water, and climate pollution
- Promoting biodiversity
There’s a whole field of research devoted to achieving these goals:
agroecology, the science of managing farms as ecosystems. By working with nature rather than against it, farms managed using agroecological principles can avoid damaging impacts without sacrificing productivity or profitability.
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What Is Sustainable Agriculture?Context'..land degradation .. There is little public awareness..'(Global Healing 2020 - 2050) - (Global Scale-Up Ocean Cleanup 2020) - 2018: Start Pacific CleanupThe Electric Universe) - '..In reality, moving magnetic fields within a plasma create electric currents.'