Tag Archive for: food sustainability
As mentioned in a previous post, freshwater environments across the globe continue to be threatened by the intrusion of brackish and salt-water for a variety of reasons. Resulting in naturally occurring groundwater and other freshwater reservoirs at risk particularly for agriculture. Brackish/salinated water results in plant stress for producers. The instability created by this ecosystem change is a major concern in global food security.
Gaia, a global leader in the ultrafine/nanobubble technology arena has jointly been collaborating within the BioResource & Agricultural Engineering (BRAE) Department at California Polytechnic University (CalPoly), since 2017 to create a solution to this rising problem.
Department Head Dr. Peter Livingston, P.E., and Sara Kuwahara, Ph.D., of Cal Poly’s BRAE Department have been researching the effects of ultrafine/nanobubble oxygenated water and the effects on strawberries in varying saline concentrations and growth media.
Results from the ongoing two-year study were presented recently on October 23, 2020 to the Agricultural Research Institute (ARI) during the virtual meeting. (ARI comprises of colleges of agriculture and allied disciplines on four California State Universities for the intent of research for sustainable agriculture for the State of California.) To view more media about this study click here.
Dr. Livingston’s Zoom presentation can be viewed below or by clicking here.
For more information on ARI, visit Cal State.
Vard Aqua Chile and GAIA have entered into an Authorized Integrator Agreement which allows Vard to distribute, install, and provide technical support for the implementation of GAIA ultra-fine nanobubble generation technology into systems for Chilean Aquaculture.
Gaia Water Ultra-fine Nanobubble Generator implemented in Vard Aqua Chile Farms.
GAIA’s ultra-fine nanobubble generators increase dissolved oxygen in seawater fish farms. The ultra-fine nanobubbles contribute to more efficient and sustainable aquaculture operations. As Jorge Flores of Vard Aqua Chile said, “The Technology is already patent pending and widely distributed in Canada, which makes this task much easier for us with our local clients.”
Read more on GAIA’s developments with Vard Aqua Chile here.
The citrus industry, worldwide, has been battling one of the most destructive and devastating diseases, Huanglongbing, yellow dragon disease, or more commonly referred to as HLB. The disease is caused by a vector-transmitted pathogen, from the bacterium species Candidatus Liberibacter. The vectors are small plant feeding insects of the family Psyllidae. These insects spread the three different forms of the bacterium into citrus trees. The infection into the trees causes incredible destruction from yellowing of the veins and tissues, premature defoliation of leaves, stunted growth, irregular shaped fruit with green color at the navel side, and eventual tree death.
HLB Infected Orange Tree
The Psyllidae vector, Diaphorina citri, is responsible for HLB in regions of Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, South Carolina, Texas, Hawaii and Southern California. Other vector transmissions have been observed across the globe some of which being Cuba, Saudi Arabia, Belize, South Africa and South East Asia. The economic fallout of infected HLB citrus groves has been a challenge for growers worldwide.
Gaia, a global leader in the ultrafine nanobubble technology arena has jointly been collaborating with the United States Department of Agriculture (U.S.D.A.) at the U.S. Horticultural Research Laboratory in Ft. Pierce, Florida sine 2017. For the purpose of investigating the use of ultrafine nanobubble technology to combat HLB.
Geneticist, Dr. Randy P. Niedz, Ph.D., has spearheaded the research in a scientific and objective manner. Researching the effects of how oxygenated ultrafine/nanobubbles suspended in water interact with healthy and HLB infected citrus plants. Results indicate an increase in the size and fresh root mass, up to 28%. These results were presented at the Florida Citrus Show in January 2020, and widely received as the future of care in treating HLB. Due to the positive results and wide reception secondary studies are currently underway and will be updated as soon as they are available.
To watch the presentation from the show, click here.
Freshwater environments across the globe continue to be threatened by the intrusion of brackish and salt-water for a variety of reasons. This puts naturally occurring groundwater and other freshwater stores at risk, even when they are not in close proximity to a coastline.
Within the United States, states such as California, Florida, Arizona and many others are among the areas where this is taking place. Regions in Asia, the Middle East and Africa have all seen freshwater supplies for agriculture begin to dwindle due to brackish water infiltrating natural freshwater reservoirs. Brackish salinated water results in plant stress for producers. The instability created by this ecosystem change is a major concern in global food security.
Gaia, a global leader in the ultra-fine nanobubble technology arena has jointly been collaborating within the BioResource & Agricultural Engineering (BRAE) Department at California Polytechnic University (CalPoly), since 2017 to create a solution to this rising problem.
Department Head Dr. Peter Livingston, P.E., and Sara Kuwahara, Ph.D., of Cal Poly’s BRAE Department focused their research on finding ways to produce food in environments which are otherwise unsuitable for agricultural activity due to brackish/heavily salinated nature of their water sources. Their ongoing research has employed Gaia’s patented ultra-fine nanobubble oxygen technology to deliver targeted oxygen levels, along with trillions of nanosized bubbles allowing food to be grown in water containing up to 20,000 parts per million of salt.
In the Summer 2017 issue of Cultivate Magazine published by the College of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences at CalPoly, Dr. Livingston speaks about the use of the Gaia Ultra-fine Nanobubble technology in delivering oxygen ultra-fine nanobubbles to research the potential of growing food in highly saline water.
Read the full article on page 10-11 here.