ISLAMABAD: Crop seeds sent into space last year to develop resilient crops that can help provide sufficient food as the planet heats up, returned to Earth on Saturday. Seeds sent into space to explore the effects of cosmic radiation on speeding up natural, genetic adaptation of much needed crops. Their return to Earth paves the way for scientists to start analysing the results.

It is a new milestone for the joint efforts of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations, IAEA says in a press release.

Launched from Nasa’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia and having spent around five months at the International Space Station (ISS), Arabidopsis and Sorghum seeds — chosen because there is already a large bank of scientific data available for comparison — were released from the ISS in the SpaceX CRS-27 cargo craft on 15 April and made a parachute-assisted splashdown off the coast of Florida.

They will now begin their journey back to the laboratories of the Joint FAO/IAEA Centre in Seibersdorf, Austria, where they will be screened and analysed for desirable traits.

Arabidopsis, a type of cress that is easy and inexpensive to grow and produces many seeds, will be tested for tolerance to drought, salt and heat. Sorghum, a nutrient-packed cereal grain that can grow on arid lands and is resilient to changes in climate, will be tested for desirable traits for climate change resilience.

Both seeds will be grown to the next generation before trait selection, and with the faster growing Arabidopsis, depending on when they arrive in the laboratories in Seibersdorf, initial results could be available in October 2023.

Plants naturally evolve to thrive in their surroundings, but crops have been struggling to keep up with the current pace of climate change. The world is warmer and the global population is increasing, causing farmers around the world to struggle to meet food demand.

“The cosmic crops project is a very special one. This is science that could have a real impact on people’s lives in the not-too-distant future, by helping us grow stronger crops and feed more people,” said IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi.

Published in Dawn, April 17th, 2023