A team of researchers found a way to reduce the water consumption of plants

According to AZO Cleantech, the discovery belonging to Dr. Suan Chin Wong from ANU could enable farmers and plant breeders to grow more water-efficient crops, meaning that they should be less affected in case of droughts or extreme temperatures.

Dr. Diego Marquez, Study Co-Author from ANU, said that "plants continuously lose water through pores in the ‘skin’ of their leaves. These same pores allow CO2 to enter the leaves and are critical to their survival."

"For every unit of CO2 gained, plants typically lose hundreds of units of water. This is why plants require a lot of water in order to grow and survive", he added.

The mechanism discovered by the researchers can be activated during a dry day, when temperatures are high, allowing the plant to reduce water loss and at the same time still be able to absorb CO2 nearly as efficiently.

Dr. Suan Chin Wong, Study Lead Author from ANU, said that "the agriculture industry has long held high hopes for scientists to come up with a way to deliver highly productive crops that use water efficiently. Plant scientists have been dealing with this big question of how to increase CO2 uptake and reduce water loss without negatively affecting yields."

Scientists still need to do more research before they will be able to successfully implement this system at large scale, which is why they ask others to get involved.

"Finding the mechanism itself was one step, a big one, but there is still work to do to translate this discovery into the industry. We expect that both government and industry will see the value of contributing funds to achieve this goal", co-author Professor Graham Farquhar from ANU added.