Peru is about to bring 100 varieties of potatoes to Mars

Will we have Martian varieties in the near future?

Peru is the country with the largest variety of potatoes in the world, with about 3800 types of potatoes, ranging from size, color, shell, sweet potato, texture and flavor, all of which have a place in Peruvian cuisine.

Does Peru's potato have what we need?

That's the question that florists will make in Lima next month, when a fruit selection will begin conducting tests to determine whether they are suitable for growing on Mars.

NASA, the US space agency, is conducting its first experiments with the International Potato Center (CIP) in Lima.

They will start planting a hundred varieties of potatoes to make extremely strict assessments, on the same conditions as Mars to pave the way for the construction of a vault of vegetable cultivation on the Red Planet.

Potato candidates are selected from a total of 4500 registered potato varieties in CIP, a non-profit research group that aims to eradicate poverty and achieve food safety.

Of the 100 types of potatoes brought to Mars, there are 40 varieties originating from the Andes.

Among the selected potato candidates, 40 varieties originated from the Andes mountain , cultivated under certain conditions to be able to grow in different ecological regions, withstand the abnormal climate and multiply. be on the mountain rocky terrain, arid.

60 other varieties are genetically modified potatoes that can survive with just a little water and salt. They are also immune to viruses.

The varieties that pass the test must meet the final standard - they must not only grow well on Mars but also have to be multiplied by a large number.

"We are almost 100 percent certain that there will be a lot of selected varieties that will pass the test , " said Julio Valdivia Silva, a NASA biologist who is involved in the project. this ambition.

Scientists hope that experiments will also address the catastrophes of starvation and malnutrition by identifying suitable varieties for planting in harsh conditions.

"We must be ready for the future," said virologist Jan Kreuze, a scientist at CIP. "In order to react to desertification, rising temperatures and saline soil"

Vegetables of the future

The soil at La Joya Pampas - an area of ​​the Atacama desert is considered one of the driest places on earth - very similar to what is found on the Red planet.

Scientists plan to transport 100 kilograms of this soil to CIP's laboratory in Lima, which can simulate Mars's complex atmosphere - primarily carbon dioxide - and give them direct contact. with ultraviolet radiation.

"We will have more specific results in the next one or two years , " Valdivia said, adding that it will take more than five years to launch an unmanned task to Mars.

NASA plans to build a Mars research center in the desert of Peru.

The potential future crops are the oldest names.

The records of potato cultivation have been around since 2500 BC, when the native Aymara tribe planted them in present-day Peru and Bolivia.

If the selected varieties in the next month cannot adapt to desert soil, researchers will have to provide more nutrients and put them into radiation.

"If that doesn't work," Valdivia said, "we will conduct a new method that CIP is using as a cultivation method."

This method, used to cultivate plants without soil, will leave roots exposed in a sphere of nutrients and a system to remove toxins.

In the coming years, NASA plans to build a Mars research center in the desert of Peru.

It will create a complete copy of the landscape and Mars atmosphere for future studies of space-based cultivation to serve the tasks of bringing people to Mars and other planets in the Solar System. .