Lincoln Scientists Train Soil to Protect Crops from Climate Change
New research shows teaching soil microbes to handle salt could help secure the future of food production
Scientists at the University of Lincoln have discovered a promising new way to help crops survive one of the fastest-growing threats from climate change—rising salt levels in soil.
The study, led by Professor Matthew Goddard, found that naturally occurring soil microbes can be trained to adapt to saltier conditions, offering hope for farmers trying to maintain food production as weather patterns become more extreme.
Professor Goddard explained:
“Conditions are not brilliant out there. If you just look out the window, it's hot and it's dry."
"And of course, plants are clearly struggling to grow, including crops in the ground."
"So this project is about seeing if we can help growers prepare their farming systems for future climate change events.”
The research found that by gradually exposing soil to low levels of saline water, the natural microbial communities within the soil learned to cope better with high salt.
This made it easier for crops to continue growing, even when conditions would normally harm yields. Goddard says this approach is about “being proactive, being prepared. It's a shift in thinking to see if we can help prepare agricultural systems to be robust for future climate change events rather than being reactive when droughts or floods or whatever it might be occurs.”
Around 30% of agricultural soils worldwide are already affected by salt, and that number is expected to rise to half by 2050.
The Lincoln team hopes their method can be a practical, cost-effective way to help growers adapt and safeguard food security.
As Professor Goddard put it: “This is just one example of ways that we can change, manipulate, engineer agricultural systems to keep producing sufficient food and therefore have food security, enough food on the shelf for decades to come.”