Hydroponics continues to offer life to Argentines in Antarctica

Since its origins, human beings have been advancing in pursuit of breaking down barriers and expanding their possibilities of survival. In the 21st century, hydroponic crops (that is, with a water, aquatic substrate, not soil), are taking a path that never ceases to surprise. A group of researchers from INTA Santa Cruz and the National University of Southern Patagonia (UNPA), specifically the team from the Río Gallegos Academic Unit (UARG), designed the Antarctic Hydroponic Production Module (MAPHi) that they later installed at the Marambio Base of Argentine Antarctica. That was in 2019 and allowed for year-round production of leafy greens with a system that combines hydroponics and lights that replace sunlight to establish photosynthesis. MAPHi, basically, are containers with vertical agriculture, lights and sensors, plants growing in a water substrate and with a controlled atmosphere. At Santa Cruz Produce (SCP), in 2022 we interviewed, during one of his visits to the Marambio ...