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Investigating crop growth with sea-water and its effect on the minerals of life

The world is currently facing two major, closely linked problems: a rapidly growing population and a shortage of freshwater. Together, these challenges pose a serious threat to global food security.

By 2050, the global population will exceed 9.7 billion, increasing food demand by over 60%. Meeting this need depends heavily on water, as agriculture already uses around 70% of global freshwater.

However, freshwater supplies are shrinking due to climate change, pollution, and overuse of aquifers, creating a growing gap between what’s needed and what’s available.

To secure future food production, we must develop innovative ways to grow crops with less freshwater. Your research into saline irrigation supports this vital scientific effort—exploring how salt-water farming could transform the planet’s most abundant water source into a sustainable solution for a warming world.

This project investigates how different concentrations of NaCl in saline irrigation could affect the growth of an Arabidopsis thaliana crop, a member of the cress and cabbage family, focusing on the physiological stress caused by salinity and its impact on the plant's ability to manage essential minerals.

Professor Peter Sadler FRS welcomes students and teachers to the Salty Solutions research project, a collaborative journey exploring how to grow food in a world running low on fresh water. He sets the stage by highlighting the urgent global challenge of feeding a growing population amid increasing freshwater scarcity
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Professor Peter Sadler FRS
Meet the schools

 

Experimental Outline 

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(COMING SOON)

Community Science 

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BlueSky

Meet the Teams 

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Academics from UK
Academics from China
The rest of the team
School Partnership Leads (UK and China)
School Partnership Commitee
The Salty Solutions Project team
Heads of Department
(Thank you for your support with this Project)
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