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Bacteria from US Soil to be Used in Space Agriculture Experiments

The International Space Station (ISS) photographed by Expedition 56 crew members from a Soyuz spacecraft after undocking, Oct. 4, 2018. (NASA/Roscosmos/Handout via REUTERS)
The International Space Station (ISS) photographed by Expedition 56 crew members from a Soyuz spacecraft after undocking, Oct. 4, 2018. (NASA/Roscosmos/Handout via REUTERS)
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Bacteria from US Soil to be Used in Space Agriculture Experiments

The International Space Station (ISS) photographed by Expedition 56 crew members from a Soyuz spacecraft after undocking, Oct. 4, 2018. (NASA/Roscosmos/Handout via REUTERS)
The International Space Station (ISS) photographed by Expedition 56 crew members from a Soyuz spacecraft after undocking, Oct. 4, 2018. (NASA/Roscosmos/Handout via REUTERS)

Researchers have taken a tiny piece of soil from the city of Prosser, in Washington state to dispatch it with some of its “inhabitants” to space, which actually happened last week.

The soil and its inhabitants of bacteria blasted off into space from Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Friday.

Scientists will study what the bacteria do in a microgravity environment to learn more about how soil microbial communities function in space. That’s information scientists need to grow food either in space or on another celestial body.

The experiment, funded by NASA, is called DynaMoS, or Dynamics of Microbiomes in Space. The study is being conducted by researchers at the Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL).

The soil microbial community headed for the International Space Station is composed of eight species of bacteria that PNNL scientists isolated from a scientific field site in Prosser that is run by Washington State University. The microbes will be among the payload of NASA’s resupply mission.

PNNL scientists will study how the microbes behave in space compared to how they behave on Earth. Why do some species flourish under certain conditions and struggle under others? Who needs which partners to thrive, and who might be expendable? Will microbes work in space like they do on Earth? Answers to those questions could help plant food in space.

“We still have a lot to learn about how microorganisms behave on Earth. There are even more questions to address if we are to grow food in space, for instance on the lunar surface or for a long-lasting mission to Mars. How do microbes behave in microgravity, for instance?” Janet Jansson, a chief scientist in the experiment, said in a report published by the PNNL laboratory.

“Plants need beneficial soil microbes to help them grow. Microbes can provide nutrients and protect plants from drought, from pathogens, and from other kinds of stress. Understanding how microbes interact as they do this is the first step for building communities of microbes that can support plant growth in places like the moon, Mars, or the space station,” said Jansson.

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Tunisia Women Herb Harvesters Struggle with Drought and Heat

A woman harvests aromatic and medicinal plants in the mountains of Tbainia village near the city of Ain Drahem, in the northwest of Tunisia on November 6, 2024. (AFP)
A woman harvests aromatic and medicinal plants in the mountains of Tbainia village near the city of Ain Drahem, in the northwest of Tunisia on November 6, 2024. (AFP)
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Tunisia Women Herb Harvesters Struggle with Drought and Heat

A woman harvests aromatic and medicinal plants in the mountains of Tbainia village near the city of Ain Drahem, in the northwest of Tunisia on November 6, 2024. (AFP)
A woman harvests aromatic and medicinal plants in the mountains of Tbainia village near the city of Ain Drahem, in the northwest of Tunisia on November 6, 2024. (AFP)

On a hillside in Tunisia's northwestern highlands, women scour a sun-scorched field for the wild herbs they rely on for their livelihoods, but droughts and rising temperatures are making it ever harder to find the precious plants.

Yet the harvesters say they have little choice but to struggle on, as there are few opportunities in a country hit hard by unemployment, inflation and high living costs.

"There is a huge difference between the situation in the past and what we are living now," said Mabrouka Athimni, who heads a local collective of women herb harvesters named "Al Baraka" ("Blessing").

"We're earning half, sometimes just a third, of what we used to."

Tunisia produces around 10,000 tons of aromatic and medicinal herbs each year, according to official figures.

Rosemary accounts for more than 40 percent of essential oil exports, mainly destined for French and American markets.

For the past 20 years, Athimni's collective has supported numerous families in Tbainia, a village near the city of Ain Draham in a region with much higher poverty rates than the national average.

Women, who make up around 70 percent of the agricultural workforce, are the main breadwinners for their households in Tbainia.

- 'Yield less' -

Tunisia is in its sixth year of drought and has seen its water reserves dwindle, as temperatures have soared past 50 degrees Celsius (122 degrees Fahrenheit) in some areas during the summer.

The country has 36 dams, mostly in the northwest, but they are currently just 20 percent full -- a record low in recent decades.

The Tbainia women said they usually harvested plants like eucalyptus, rosemary and mastic year-round, but shrinking water resources and rare rainfall have siphoned oil output.

"The mountain springs are drying up, and without snow or rain to replenish them, the herbs yield less oil," said Athimni.

Mongia Soudani, a 58-year-old harvester and mother of three, said her work was her household's only income. She joined the collective five years ago.

"We used to gather three or four large sacks of herbs per harvest," she said. "Now, we're lucky to fill just one."

Forests in Tunisia cover 1.25 million hectares, about 10 percent of them in the northwestern region.

Wildfires fueled by drought and rising temperatures have ravaged these woodlands, further diminishing the natural resources that women like Soudani depend on.

In the summer of last year, wildfires destroyed around 1,120 hectares near Tbainia.

"Parts of the mountain were consumed by flames, and other women lost everything," Soudani recalled.

To adapt to some climate-driven challenges, the women received training from international organizations, such as the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), to preserve forest resources.

Still, Athimni struggles to secure a viable income.

"I can't fulfil my clients' orders anymore because the harvest has been insufficient," she said.

The collective has lost a number of its customers as a result, she said.

- 'No longer sustainable' -

A recent study by the Tunisian Forum for Economic and Social Rights (FTDES) highlighted how climate-induced damage to forests had severely impacted local communities.

"Women in particular suffer the consequences as their activities become more difficult and arduous," the study said.

Tunisia has ratified key international environmental agreements, including the 2015 Paris Climate Accord.

But environmental justice researcher Ines Labiadh, who oversaw the FTDES study, said implementation "remains incomplete".

In the face of these woes, the Tbainia harvesters, like many women working in the sector, will be forced to seek alternative livelihoods, said Labiadh.

"They have no choice but to diversify their activities," she said. "Relying solely on natural resources is no longer sustainable."

Back in the field, Bachra Ben Salah strives to collect whatever herbs she can lay her hands on.

"There's nothing we can do but wait for God's mercy," she said.