RIKEN scientists use ethanol to help crops survive drought

With the world experiencing an increase in drought since the beginning of the millennium, Japan-based RIKEN has created a cost-effective soil treatment intended on increasing the survival rate of crops by 10 times. 

According to a news release by RIKEN, the soil treatment is for water-stressed crops and will help with reducing water loss and also increase the production of sugar.

“Water scarcity is a serious agricultural problem that causes significant losses to crop yield and quality,” says Motoaki Seki, a plant scientist at the RIKEN Center for Sustainable Resource Science in Yokohama. “Because droughts are happening more frequently, we need to find a way to prevent plants from dying when it’s extremely dry.”

The release stated China has had its worst heatwave in at least 60 years. The Rhine River in Europe has dropped low enough where large ships can’t pass through, and the Horn of Africa has had low rainfall for four seasons straight. 

The United Nations reported that the world as a whole suffered a 29% increase in drought since 2000. Drought has killed more than 650,000 people since 1970 and also affects food production, as well as contributing to other disastrous scenarios.

Scientists have been creating genetically modified plants to ensure their stomata stay shut, which minimizes water loss. Since this is both costly and time consuming, Seki and RIKEN scientists have been applying ethanol into soil to protect plants. Studies showed that it helped plants, such as rice and wheat. 

“Ethanol is a simple and cheap compound, one that has been widely used as a disinfectant during COVID-19,” Seki said.

The researchers grew rice and wheat plants with large amounts of water for two weeks, then added ethanol to the soil for three days. They followed this by withdrawing water for the final four days and two weeks for rice and wheat, respectively. About 75% of ethanol-treated plants survived after rewatering after the drought, compared to fewer than 5% of untreated plants. 

A team of scientists, led by Seki, studied how the plants’ physical attributes and gene expression changed over time by using the model plant A. thaliana.

“All this indicated that ethanol primes the cellular environment so that the plant is better prepared to withstand drought stress,” Seki noted in the release.

Seki said the goal is to develop plants that are “stress-tolerant” through the use of chemical compounds. He says this could solve the food crisis around the world that has been triggered by climate change and global warning.