News Agriculture

Martian soil may have all the nutrients rice needs

But the plant is going to need some tweaking to survive a toxic chemical there

A close-up of rice plants

Experiments suggest that the soils of Mars might have the right nutrients for growing rice plants (shown).

LITTLE DINOSAUR/Moment/Getty Images

By Nikk Ogasa

THE WOODLANDS, TEXAS — Martian dirt may have all the necessary nutrients for growing rice, one of humankind’s most important foods, planetary scientist Abhilash Ramachandran reported March 13 at the Lunar and Planetary Science Conference. However, the plant may need a bit of help to survive amid perchlorate, a chemical that can be toxic to plants and has been detected