Emily Chan
As the global population increases, so does the demand for food. By 2050, we will need 60 percent more food than what is currently being produced.
Agriculture faces a number of challenges in the 21st century, such as climate change and other environmental factors, which can affect the food supply.
Farmers are searching for ways to boost crops without harming the environment, and it’s no easy task.
Rainstick, an Australian startup, is addressing the issue with a new approach: electrical horticulture. The company aims to use electricity to zap plants and speed up the growth of crops without the need for pesticides.
This works by mimicking the natural effects of lightning to create charged particles in the air, which are then pushed onto the plants, stimulating better growth.
If the method is successful, it can help combat the global food crisis by increasing crop yields and reducing the environmental consequences of mass-scale agriculture.
According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, modern agriculture contributed to about 22 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions in 2010.
Rainstick is inspired by the techniques of the Maiawali, an indigenous people of Queensland, Australia.
Around 10,000 years ago, Maiawali grain farmers practiced traditional rain dance ceremonies. They would bury a rainstick covered with metal oxide to draw in lighting, and the electricity would signal to plant cells to grow faster.
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