Environment chambers to advance food production in space now used on Earth

A higher plant compartment (HPC) is required in the MELiSSA life support loop for food production and atmospheric revitalisation. This technological challenge was addressed by the University of Guelph and the University Autonoma of Barcelona, resulting in the deployment of a prototype HPC at the MELiSSA Pilot Plant in Barcelona. Lessons learned were then applied in the subsequent food characterisation and cultivar selection phases in collaboration with the University of Ghent to develop the next-generation controlled environment chamber and to advance the technologies required for food production in space. The Precision Plant Growth Chambers project addressed a major societal concern, namely the production of food in increasingly harsh environments given climate change. Technologies required for human space exploration yield significant benefits for terrestrial applications and commercialisation opportunities. This is especially true for HPC initiatives designed to produce food in the harsh environment of space. Similar harsh environments exist on Earth, such as the Canadian North and the deserts of the Middle East. A number of technology spin-offs based on controlled environment production strategies developed for space have been demonstrated and are currently proposed at the pilot scale in both the Northwest Territories of Canada and in the deserts of Kuwait. A more direct application of the precision growth chambers designed to address the technical challenges of high density food production is that of phenotype testing in the context of a plant breeding programme. Conventional field trials for various crops such as corn, soybeans, canola, and wheat rely on extensive (at least 2 years) testing to confirm the efficacy of the attributes for which the crop is bred (e.g. drought tolerance). Precision chambers can reduce this to a few days or weeks, and also result in a more reliable assessment of the phenotype as the testing takes place under strictly controlled environmental conditions. This significantly accelerates a breeding programme and reduces its costs. The design criteria for the precision growth chamber for phenotype testing applications were licensed to Syngenta on a limited project basis. MELiSSA expertise Because of its specific expertise, the Controlled Environment Systems Research Facility at the University of Guelph was responsible for the initial design criteria and deployment of the prototype HPC in collaboration with the University Autonoma of Barcelona. Subsequent food characterisation and cultivar selection studies in collaboration with the University of Ghent and the University of Bern resulted in the fine tuning of horticultural management practices for a variety of MELiSSA candidate crops.