Russia: Leafy vegetables are grown in Antarctica

Antarctica is not the first place that comes to mind when thinking about growing leafy vegetables. At the same time, it is vital for the people who work here, and therefore live here, to be able to produce life-sustaining vegetables locally. Ensuring the technical and technological possibility of regularly growing fresh, high-quality plants at the Antarctic stations is an urgent task of our time. During this work, the researchers are investigating the growth and development of leafy vegetable plants grown in the greenhouses of the phytotechnical complex located at the "Vosztok" Antarctic station and the agrobiopolygon of the Agrophysical Research Institute (AFI), as well as the main quality indicators of their edible parts. The 9 types of leafy vegetables (arugula, garden cress, cabbage, mustard, leaf radish, leaf lettuce, amaranth, dill, parsley leaf) were examined during five growing seasons at the "Vostok" station and the AFI agrobiopolygon under controlled conditions ...