Scientists Successfully Grow Watermelons in Antarctica: Agricultural Breakthrough at Vostok Station

KOMPAS.com – Scientists have managed to grow watermelons in an unexpected place, namely Antarctica, the coldest place on earth.

Cultivating watermelons in the coldest place on Earth is an agricultural success that is also part of an experiment at Vostok Station, a year-round Russian research station located at the Pole of Cold.

It is so named because it is classified as the coldest place on Earth, where the temperature ever recorded was minus 89.2 degrees Celsius.

Growing watermelons in Antarctica

The first watermelons appeared in what is now Sudan more than 4,300 years ago.

One piece of evidence is that watermelons appear in ancient art in the region, including in an Egyptian tomb at Saqqara.

In other words, this type of berry evolved far from the frigid Antarctic environment.

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However, quoted from Live Science, Tuesday (1/8/2023) scientists in Antarctica have succeeded in growing watermelons, a fruit known to be rich in water.

To make the greenhouses of Vostok Station more hospitable to watermelons, researchers from the Russian Antarctic Expedition of the Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute (AARI), together with colleagues from the Institute of Agrophysical Research and the Institute of Biomedical Problems of the Russian Academy of Sciences, created an oasis where they can increase the temperature and humidity of the air to conditions favorable for juicy fruit.

The team deliberately chose two varieties of watermelon that ripened earlier, not only because of their delicious taste but also because of their ability to adapt to the low atmospheric pressure and lack of oxygen in the greenhouse.

The team then planted the seeds in a thin layer of soil substitute and used special lighting that mimicked sunlight. Since no insects pollinated the plants, the researchers pollinated everything by hand.

Harvesting watermelons in Antarctica

Exactly 103 days after the watermelon seeds were planted, the researchers were greeted by eight “ripe, sweet fruits” growing on six different plants. Each watermelon weighs about 1 Kg with a diameter of 13 cm.

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Experiments have proven not only that watermelons can grow in the coldest places on the planet.

Experimental results can also provide light food intake for scientists living in extreme environments in Antarctica.

“Of course, all polar explorers love to remember the taste of summer. Even watching the seedlings grow and seeing the appearance of the fruit evoke positive emotions,” says Andrei Teplyakov, AARI’s chief geophysicist.

This is not the first time that plant products have been grown at the Vostok Station in Antarctica, the coldest place on earth.

In 2020, researchers also successfully cultivated a variety of crops, including dill, basil, parsley, arugula, and cabbage.

According to The Korean Bizwire, in 2021, Korean scientists planted watermelons at King Sejong Station in West Antarctica, which has the lowest temperature of minus 25.6 C.

Next, the scientists plan to grow a variety of fruits including blackberries, blueberries and strawberries.

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2023-08-02 04:00:00
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